Gov. Jan Brewer says Arizona will expand Medicaid

Source: Deseret News

PHOENIX — Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer said Monday that she plans to expand the state's Medicaid program to cover citizens who earn up to 133 percent of the poverty line. The Republican governor made the announcement in her annual State of the State speech in which she also outlined plans to boost funding for Child Protective Services and to push for the Legislature to reform the state's sales tax collection system this year.

Brewer said the decision on Medicaid came in spite of her recent opposition to the federal health care law known as the Affordable Care Act. One provision in the law allows for states to increase the program with federal support. The governor cited President Barack Obama's re-election and last summer's U.S. Supreme Court ruling in saying that the law is here to stay.

The Supreme Court did give states the option of not signing on to the expansion. But Brewer says virtually all of the expansion will be funded by the federal government, and not taking the money wouldn't contribute to the lowering of federal deficits.

She added that expanding Medicaid will help poor Arizonans and help hospitals and caregivers who now must give care without pay.

Read more: http://www.deseretnews.com/article/765620170/Gov-Jan-Brewer-says-Arizona-will-expand-Medicaid.html

---

Good policy decision by Arizona. I'm surprised. If Governor Brewer is for an expansion of Medicaid, Texas should follow suit.