Why one key Democrat doesn’t want the federal government picking up the tab for Medicaid expansion – By Maureen Groppe (USA Today) / Oct 26 2021
WASHINGTON – One Senate Democrat could block an effort by his colleagues to extend health care to millions of poor people in a dozen states.
For West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin, his opposition is a matter of fairness.
Taxpayers in his state – and in the 37 other states that have expanded Medicaid eligibility under the 2010 Affordable Care Act – pick up 10% of the cost to cover low-income residents who are covered by the law.
Why then, he argues, should the federal government now pay for 100% of the cost in the states that have refused the 90-10 split – as Democrats are proposing to do in the massive social spending bill pending in Congress.
