Refusing Medicaid expansion to cost states billions, study says

The decision not to participate will costs states billions over the next decade which will be passed onto taxpayers, according to a study by the pro-reform Commonwealth Fund. Meanwhile, Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett begins the process of seeking federal approval for his proposal to use expansion money to help the poor buy private insurance. And the Wisconsin Assembly votes to give those losing Medicaid three more months to sign up for private plans. 

The Associated Press/Washington Post: Feds' Site Gives States Incomplete Medicaid Data
People shopping for insurance on the federal marketplace may be informed they're eligible for Medicaid and that their information is being sent to state officials to sign them up. However, states say they aren't able to enroll them because they're receiving incomplete data from the Obama administration (12/5).

The Washington Post: Study: Refusing Medicaid Expansion Will Cost States Billions Of Dollars
When the Supreme Court ruled in 2012 that the federal government could not compel states to expand their Medicaid programs under the Affordable Care Act, it gave Republican opponents of the measure the opportunity to decline to participate in one of the law's central tenets. But a new study estimates the decision not to participate will cost those states billions of dollars over the next decade -; costs that will be passed on to taxpayers. The Affordable Care Act requires the federal government to pay 100 percent of the costs of expanding Medicaid for three years. After that period, the law mandates the federal government pay 90 percent of the costs of expansion (Wilson, 12/5).

The Associated Press: Corbett Seeks Federal OK For Alternative Medicaid Plan
Gov. Tom Corbett will begin the formal process Friday of seeking approval for his plan to bring billions of federal Medicaid expansion dollars to Pennsylvania to extend health insurance to half a million working poor. The process will begin with the online posting of Corbett's approximately 100-page proposal, which lays out more detail surrounding his plan to use the expansion money to help people buy private insurance, rather than cover them under the traditional Medicaid program (Levy, 12/5).

The Associated Press: Assembly Passes Medicaid Delay Bill
As those in Wisconsin working to get people enrolled for health insurance through the federal online marketplace reported progress in recent days, the state Assembly passed a bill Wednesday that would give those losing their Medicaid coverage three more months to sign up for private plans (Bauer, 12/5).