In a new editorial, The Times-Picayune says Gov. Bobby Jindal’s rationale for his refusal to accept the expansion of Medicaid provided by the Affordable Care Act—or Obamacare, as some call it—is continually weakening. “He keeps arguing that the state can’t afford its share of the cost for the roughly 400,000 low-income Louisianans who would qualify. But a new study by the Kaiser Family Foundation came up with a dramatically smaller number than the Jindal administration for the state’s portion,” reads the editorial, which notes that the Kaiser report puts the cost for Louisiana at about $1 billion over 10 years. “That is far less than the state’s $3.7 billion estimate.” The number of Louisianans without health care is at a “crisis level,” the editorial says, citing estimates of the uninsured ranging from 675,954 in the state’s latest survey to 895,800 in the Kaiser study. The newspaper also says current eligibility for Medicaid in Louisiana is very restrictive for adults, despite a high level of poverty across the state; it notes that the Kaiser report estimates an additional 398,000 residents would get coverage under the Obamacare expansion. “All of this raises the question: Why won’t the governor budge? Basically, it’s all about politics,” the editorial says, later concluding: “The message to Louisianans is that the governor is callous to their needs. It is unthinkable that he would have the means to help them but would refuse to do so.” Read the complete editorial here.
Today’s poll question: Do you think Gov. Bobby Jindal’s decision to refuse to implement Obamacare in Louisiana has more to do with politics or cost concerns?
