Question

Should individual states be allowed to make the decision as to whether they want to participate in the Medicaid Expansion initiative outlined in the ACA? WHY? If you were the governor of a state what would be the specific reasons why you WOULD or WOULD NOT participate?

Answer 1

ACA is the federal program and it is intended to benefit the those who really need it. This is the objective served by Medicaid expansion initiative, because it also helps to ensure those who are not insured, but income is less than the 138% of the income of Federal poverty line. It makes these schemes to be an important tool to help poor people. So, it should be implemented in each state, even if the states have their own programs, because federal government will also provide all necessary support as per the guidelines of the ACA.

As a governor of the state, the specific reason of not to participate, will be that the state has already an insurance program that takes care of these people of low income. So, implementing the Medicaid expansion initiative will only increase the expenses. Otherwise, I have to close the state owned scheme that will cause harm to huge number of people. So, as a governor, I would not like to participate.