After Ohio and Michigan accepted Medicaid Expansion, the lamelight is on Governor Rick Scott of Florida who faces a tough 2014 reelection battle in a state that voted twice for Obama. The only governor up for reelection this year, Chris Christie of New Jersey, will also be closely watched in a state that Obama carried

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Los Angeles Times believes that most Governors will accept the Medicaid Expansion. The federal money is a powerful magnet for Republican Governors.

"It's certainly not going to be all the states in year one. But it's going to be most of them."

"Hundreds of billions of dollars in federal payments to the states for expansion will overcome ideological resistance."

Los Angeles Times
Medicaid expansion divides GOP governors

Foes of President Obama's healthcare law have tried to unite Republican governors against its Medicaid expansion — but now some are welcoming the change and the federal money it offers.

By Paul West, Washington Bureau
February 7, 2013

Medicaid expansion divides GOP governors


Some excerpts :

In many states, the hospital lobby has aggressively pushed governors to accept the expansion. By covering millions of people who currently lack insurance, expanding Medicaid is expected to save hospitals billions of dollars in uncompensated care.

Fifteen Democratic governors, including Jerry Brown of California, Pat Quinn of Illinois and Martin O'Malley of Maryland, favor the expansion. Most or all of the remaining Democratic governors are likely to agree — though expansion is contingent on approval by state legislatures.

The decisions this week by Kasich and Snyder have focused attention on a couple of governors who remain undecided, particularly Florida's Rick Scott, who faces a tough 2014 reelection battle in a state that voted twice for Obama. A former healthcare magnate, Scott has already moved toward the political center on issues including education spending and expanded voting hours. More than 1.2 million people in Florida would gain health insurance if the state expanded its Medicaid program, according to an Urban Institute study last fall for the nonpartisan Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured.

The only governor up for reelection this year, Chris Christie of New Jersey, will also be closely watched in a state that Obama carried. Republican strategists expect that most presidential contenders, a group that could include Christie and Govs. Scott Walker of Wisconsin and Mike Pence of Indiana, will decide to reject the expansion.

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