Joan McCarter points out the following:
The 24 states that have refused to expand Medicaid are losing out on some $423.6 billion between now and 2022, according to a new study [pdf] from the Urban Institute and Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
Both Florida and Texas will lose out on over 65 billion dollars of federal funding over the next decade. They will do this, mainly, to prevent their poorest citizens who are disproportionately black and Latino from getting access to health care. They will see many of their hospitals close, they’ll miss out on the creation of tens of thousands of jobs, and they’ll lose out on a lot of tax revenue.
For what purpose?
Because the thin black dude in the WH is for it.
Simple answers for the strategy of simpletons.
You answered your own question: “to prevent their poorest citizens who are disproportionately black and Latino from getting access to health care.” Poor whites are collateral damage, but most of them apparently approve of the tactic. They’ll keep voting Repub, anyway.
The “conservative” idea is that ultimately such tactics will encourage these disfavored demographics to move to Obamacare states. Sort of like the Israeli startegy for the long term future of the Palestinians.
How can someone be this oblivious?
It’s simple, really – they do not want “their poorest citizens who are disproportionately black and Latino” to realize a benefit from “Big Government” and the Democrat(s) who enabled it. It’s like one Republican who accidentally spoke candidly about the Bush tax cuts and said that they had to do the tax cuts because the Democrats would spend the surplus otherwise and the GOP would spend the next two generations in the minority. I can’t find the link but it was a moment of truthfulness that obviously got eaten whole by truthiness. Said bluntly, if they let the president make things better for the 47% and get credit for it then the Democrats will own those votes for several generations.
It’s political self-preservation, but no less reprehensible.
because the president is black.
When are Democrats going to tell the voters of those states how much they’ve lost because of their own GOPdingbats?
Because… >insert incoherent rant here!<
parodies of Sarah Palin read just like reports on Sarah Palin.
Just to elaborate on the points already made in this thread:
1 – This has happened before. Arizona, for example, didn’t adopt Medicaid until 1982, 17 years after Congress created it.
2 – This is, among other things, of the Republican strategy of “organizing against” everything President Obama proposes/endorses.
It’s been a useful strategy in helping to rebuild a sense of party cohesion and purpose after the blowouts of 2006 and 2008. It’s also been useful at helping the party retake the House in 2010, giving it a better-than-even shot of retaking the Senate in 3 months, and blocking numerous Democratic bills and nominees.
What “organizing against” isn’t good for is helping a party (or coalition, or organization) figure out what it’s for. And that’s one of the main reasons Republicans still are long shots to retake the White House in 2016.
How set in stone is this? Can future governors opt in later? Can future governors in states that accepted the expansion opt out?
Any of these Stupid States could opt in tomorrow if they wanted to. Just takes a vote of the Legislature and sign-off by their Governor.
The radical right-wing movement says plenty of crazy things, but this is the craziest policy they have implemented in such a widespread manner.
For Craziest Policy Performance By An Individual State, the competition is extremely fierce, but I give the edge to Michigan’s Emergency Manager law. Bonus points to the Leg and Gov for responding to the voter’s repeal of the law in November 2012 by immediately passing it again in the lame-duck Legislative session, with the extra element of making it a budget amendment so the voters can’t repeal it again. It was like an extra-special FUCK YOU to their citizens.
They don’t consider Detroit to be “their citizens” – it was an FU directed right at Detroit.
Oh, there might be some short term mechanics to deal with, but a state can expand Medicaid to include Obamacare whenever. It apparently would require a Dem legislative majority under current Tea Party insanity. And for Neo-confederate states like TX, FL MA AL etc that seems pretty unlikely. But it would have to be budget/human services legislation by the state’s legislature, not just a guv’s decision.
I don’t know about dropping/opting out once the program has been accepted.
Not sure how this works.
Is this fed money the states can get only by spending more state money than they have to without it?
And, in this case, to set up and spread access to a program of which Republicans totally disapprove, Medicaid?
Just a thought.
90%-10% fed-state matching funds beginning in 2016. Our idiot governor is using the 10% as an excuse to veto legislation supported by his own party in the state house to opt in.
These Stupid States are claiming that they’ll go broke when they’re required to cover just 10% of the cost of Medicaid expansion. The Federal government pays ALL the costs for the first three years, then moves to paying 90% from then on.
Of course, these States pay a high, high price by having so many of their citizens without reasonable access to health care. The hospitals, doctors and clinics having so many patients who can’t afford to pay for the cost of their care is a painful price as well. It’s much more costly and inefficient to go without the Medicaid expansion.
But, yes, the President and many of the people helped by Medicaid eligibility expansion are black, so, you know, Stupid.
They are doing this for the GOP strongly subscribes to the mistaken philosophy of the 47% of (poor) takers.
Romney passed this believe upon all of the GOP. In actuality though the true takers are all of the supposed American citizens, Corporations, Banks and so on that refuse to pay taxes that they rightfully owe.
All of these have changed from being patriotic and stepping up and paying their taxes. To now being the true (TAKERS) of the USA. They use all of the infrastructure( roads, power grids, internet…..) that was paid for by We the People to make their money. They now do all they can to not pay their fair share. These All are the true (TAKERS) that are driven by power, selfishness and greed. These are the ones that do not care one bit about the USA.
If you think it’s purely racial animus, you’re living outside the GOP bubble. I don’t dispute there’s some large component of this denying healthcare to the “undeserving,” but if you want to understand the right wing’s actions, you have to think like they do and consider 2017.
They believe, completely, that in 2017 they will have both houses of Congress and probably the White House. They believe, as sure as the Second Coming, that ACA will be repealed. (You’ll note the dead-enders continue to say it’s unconstitutional, despite, you know, facts.)
They’re not really worried about the 10%. They’re worried that if they’re in charge and allow Medicare Expansion, then when Obamacare is repealed, they’ll have an impossible political choice:
They’re not worried about taking it away from those in blue states, because they’ll blame that on the Democratic party in those states for accepting the “unaffordable job-killing deficit-ballooning” Expansion in the first place. (Plus, those states weren’t going to vote red anyway, so no loss.)
They’re seriously worried about doing it in red states where they know that once GOP voters have the benefit, then like Medicare, they’ll never be able to take it away.
genocide-lite
genocide-lite of the poor
They are racist sociopaths.
Seriously, you asked this question?
It’s a bonus that they get to deny Black and Latinos healthcare.
Because that’s who these evil racist muthafuckas are!
Because their leaders are sadists, plain and simple.
Don’t they realize they’re reducing the cost of Obamacare? As long as they keep turning down federal money, Obamacare finances will look even better than projected.
That doesn’t appear to be true, Quaker. There are less up-front Medicaid budget costs because of the Stupid States’ refusal to insure their citizens, but those citizens will need health care at some point. Nearly all of those eligible for expanded Medicaid eligibility under the ACA who are being denied coverage because of Stupid are currently uninsured, so their health care will almost always be provided in the most inefficient and costly ways, such as emergency rooms.
These people will usually be sicker when they use these ultra-costly acute care units, too, because they had little to no preventative health care to help them deal with the increased health risks from stress, poor diets and environments, and other community problems.
Reduced up-front costs, but much greater back-end costs. If fewer people covered by public insurance were an effective way to reduce the massive governmental budget deficits that our health system has saddled us with, then we would have been in great shape when we had over 50 million uninsured.
But we weren’t.
Why are they doing this? Spite.
It’s called “cutting off your nose to spite your face.” There’s a lot of wisdom in our old sayings and proverbs.
Yes…. see http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2012/03/12/pelosis_daughter_interviews_southerners_for_segmen
t_on_mahers_show.html
It’s an attitude common here in Ky, also, even though we have a Dem Gov who has successfully implemented O’Care.
You beat me to it. That’s exactly the one word that leapt immediately to mind. It characterizes so much of what they do.
They are trying to make ObamaCare more like the caricature they’ve been hoodwinking folks with:
Poor folks will be mandated to buy (more) expensive health insurance they don’t want to afford and fined if they don’t.
Obama’s or the next President’s response might have to be putting off the mandate. That would lend further credence to the idea the whole thing is unworkable.
Then they can run on repeal again and say I told u so.
It’s not unworkable now, but it isn’t invulnerable and can be made unworkable (the GOP bets).