Michael Hiltzik passes along the news that Wyoming’s governor is the latest traitor to the cause of denying health care to poor people no matter what the cost:
The reason for Wyoming’s wavering is clear: It’s money.
The Health Department says Medicaid expansion could save the state $50 million or more if it expands the program, for which the federal government will pay at least 90%. Meanwhile, Wyoming hospitals say they’re losing more than $200 million a year in uncompensated care for people without insurance.
The state Legislature has rejected the expansion, but Republican Gov. Matt Mead has been saying it’s time to pack up. He’s entering negotiations
with the feds for a way to expand Medicaid next year, covering as many as 17,600 low-income residents.
I imagine that before very much longer, most of the other Midwest holdouts will go ahead and accept Medicaid expansion too. That will leave only the hard-core holdouts of the Old South, where the poor are apparently especially undeserving. I guess there must be some kind of difference between poor people in the Midwest and poor people in the South. I wonder what it could be?
