In states led by governors resistant to the federal initiative to expand Medicaid programs, politicians, businesses and advocacy groups are ramping up efforts to change the governors' minds.
In Iowa, Gov. Terry Branstad has rejected the feds' offer for additional funding to pay for adding an estimated 150,000 more Iowans to the Medicaid rolls, claiming he is skeptical of Washington's promises in light of recent budget woes. Critics in his state have said his alternative plan to increase the participating number of hospitals from two in Iowa City and Des Moines to multiple facilities throughout the state does not go far enough to give the poor access to healthcare.
Idaho's Gov. C.L. "Butch" Otter, also opposed to expanding Medicaid, received a letter (pdf) from a 14-member workgroup charged with exploring the option, urging him to take advantage of the $84 million Idaho would receive over 10 years if the Medicaid program expanded and avoiding the "negative business ramifications" of opting out or delaying agreement.
Bishop Michael Bransfield of the Catholic diocese of Wheeling-Charleston in West Virginia wrote a letter theologically supporting the expansion to Gov. Earl Ray Tomlin, the only Democratic governor who has not confirmed or implied his state will expand the program. If approved, the expansion would cover nearly two-thirds of West Virginia's 166,000 uninsured. Bishop Bransfield, citing Catholic social teaching to back the proposed expansion, wrote on the diocese website, "Helping to provide for those in our midst who are burdened by poverty is a moral obligation. Healthcare is a human right."
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In Iowa, Gov. Terry Branstad has rejected the feds' offer for additional funding to pay for adding an estimated 150,000 more Iowans to the Medicaid rolls, claiming he is skeptical of Washington's promises in light of recent budget woes. Critics in his state have said his alternative plan to increase the participating number of hospitals from two in Iowa City and Des Moines to multiple facilities throughout the state does not go far enough to give the poor access to healthcare.
Idaho's Gov. C.L. "Butch" Otter, also opposed to expanding Medicaid, received a letter (pdf) from a 14-member workgroup charged with exploring the option, urging him to take advantage of the $84 million Idaho would receive over 10 years if the Medicaid program expanded and avoiding the "negative business ramifications" of opting out or delaying agreement.
Bishop Michael Bransfield of the Catholic diocese of Wheeling-Charleston in West Virginia wrote a letter theologically supporting the expansion to Gov. Earl Ray Tomlin, the only Democratic governor who has not confirmed or implied his state will expand the program. If approved, the expansion would cover nearly two-thirds of West Virginia's 166,000 uninsured. Bishop Bransfield, citing Catholic social teaching to back the proposed expansion, wrote on the diocese website, "Helping to provide for those in our midst who are burdened by poverty is a moral obligation. Healthcare is a human right."
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