Medicaid expansion is not a fixed journey, as we’re slowly learning from states like Kentucky and Louisiana. The Wall Street Journal reports a pleasant change in events for the aforementioned states, whose Medicaid expansion denials have been reversed thanks to the electing of new respective governors.
Louisiana’s change in the course of events happened when Gov. John Bel Edwards replaced Gov. Bobby Jindal. Edwards was extremely vocal about enforcing Medicaid expansion during his campaigning, urging the expansion to alleviate the state deficit as well as offer healthcare to hundreds of thousands of Louisianans.
For Kentucky, it was more a matter of not delivering on a promise…in the best way possible. Current KY Gov. Matt Bevin vowed to reverse the Medicaid expansion enforced by former Gov. Steve Beshear, despite Kentucky’s expansion being more prolific than most other states.
Bevin has since reneged on that daunting offer, provided that the U.S. Department Of Health And Human Services approves modifications to the expansion, including low-income Kentucky citizens without disabilities to obtain jobs for Medicaid eligibility, along with several other conservative moves to still stifle the expansion.
Optimism runs high in other states, however, like Alaska, as Gov. Bill Walker enforced Medicaid expansion despite the red state’s very opposed government. Add Pennsylvania to that list as well, as Gov. Tom Wolf reversed some otherwise conservative mandates made to Medicaid expansion before he took office.
While these governor swaps have certainly changed the course of Medicaid expansion for many States, that same case can be made for the upcoming Presidential election. A simple swing of the pendulum can change everything.