Where Obamacare would expand Medicaid most

While the Supreme Court narrowly upheld the core of President Obama's health care law Thursday, the justices came down hard against a provision that would have expanded Medicaid to millions more low-income Americans. As passed by Congress, the legislation expanded Medicaid to nearly everyone making up to 133 percent of the federal poverty line, which would have added an estimated 16 million people to state Medicaid rolls over the next seven years. States that refused to comply would run the risk of losing all Medicaid funding.

Seven justices ruled that the move went too far, and that the government can only withhold the funds to expand Medicaid, not existing money that helps states run their pre-expansion programs.

So will more conservative states take advantage of this new leeway and reject the expansion? That's what Nebraska Gov. Dave Heineman, a Republican, suggested Thursday, when he said that he opposed expanding Medicaid in his state. A spokeswoman for Texas Gov. Rick Perry, who has made a show of rejecting federal funds in the past, wouldn't say whether he would block the expansion. Medicaid is often one of the biggest lines in states' budgets, and that share is growing as health care costs continue to rise.

Here's my question, I hope someone here can answer it:

If Obamacare is going to mandate everyone buy medical insurance, and for the poor it will be 100% subsidized, why do we need Medicaid at all, much less an expanded Medicaid program?

My understanding is that starting 2014 Medicaid will add new categories of eligible people. Those under 65 but they don't have to be disabled, pregnant or anything else ... just have a low income (low income projected to be $15,000 for a single person in 2014). Another change: There will also be no asset test for Medicaid eligibility. So you can have a low income but own property (even income producing property), IRA's etc.

So why will Medicaid be needed much less expanded if the Federal government is going to subsidize health insurance premiums for the same group of people?

Any info will help.

It probably has been said here before....but I think the ultimate goal of ObamaCare is to put everyone on the same government health insurance

There is no way possible for this plan to work, and to keep private insurers involved. You could not print money fast enough to afford it

Eventually, businesses will drop coverage for their employees, forcing those people on government insurance. Everyone will be on Medicaid..or whatever they will call the government insurance by then

We see this in Florida already with homeowners insurance. Private companies could not write policies in Florida anymore as it just was not worth the risk....so that in turn forced many Floridians (many wealthy Floridians) on the state-run Citizens Insurance. Oh, one bad hurricane, and Florida turns into Greece...

It won’t matter. The Federal government spends about 820 billion/yr on health care now. With the addition of 32 million people and all the ‘goodies’ provided in Obamacare that spending amount is set to double in 5-6 years. You really think the budget will survive having nearly half spent on healthcare? Mind you, I’m talking about the fairy-tale budget not real-world revenues which is even worse.

[Private companies could not write policies in Florida anymore as it just was not worth the risk....so that in turn forced many Floridians (many wealthy Floridians) on the state-run Citizens Insurance. Oh, one bad hurricane, and Florida turns into Greece...]

How about a new state building code requiring concrete slab wall construction for all new residential and commercial buildings and a ban on new mobile homes in the coastal counties?

But some of the early opposition may turn out to be saber rattling. The federal government is funding 100 percent of the state expansion for the first few years before reducing their contribution to a permanent 90 percent...yeah, right - we've been down this road before, with the community mental health movement back in the 60's and 70's - the feds were going to provide "seed money" to all the states to establish mental health clinics in communities so that mental patients could be cared for outside of big evil psychiatric hospitals - but once the program was underway the feds gradually withdrew the money (lack of adequate resources, dontchaknow) and the states didn't have enouth money of their own to keep things going at anywhere near the level needed - so many clinics folded and many patients are sleeping under bridges - or as they say, fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me......

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