By Easton L Lawrence
Another Republican Governor is waking up to commonsense reality. If the Government agree to pay 100% of the cost to extend and provide health care to thousands of mostly poor people in your state, it make’s absolutely no sense objecting.
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie is the eighth Republican governor to propose expanding Medicaid under President Barack Obama’s health care reform law. (Photo by John Moore/Getty Images)
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie today became the eighth Republican governor to back expanding Medicaid under President Barack Obama’s health care reform law on Tuesday.
Christie, a potential 2016 presidential contender who is up for reelection this year, defied conservative opponents of Obamacare by embracing one of its key components when he announced his plan to the Democratic-controlled state legislature in Trenton. So far, more than a dozen Republican governors, including Scott Walker of Wisconsin and Rick Perry of Texas, have declared their opposition to the Medicaid expansion.
“After considerable discussion and research, I have decided to participate in Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act. While we already have one of the most expansive and generous Medicaid programs in the nation, including the second highest eligibility rate for children, we have an opportunity to ensure that an even greater number of New Jerseyans who are at or near the poverty line will have access to critical health services beginning in January of 2014,” Christie said.
Expanding Medicaid in New Jersey would provide new health care coverage to an estimated 291,000 people through 2022, according to an analysis released by the Urban Institute and the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation in November. New Jersey would spend an additional $1.5 billion and receive $15.4 billion from the federal government to finance the expansion during that time period, the report predicted.
