Alaska governor says will
accept federal funds to expand Medicaid
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[July 17, 2015]
By Steve Quinn
JUNEAU, Alaska (Reuters) - Alaska's
governor said on Thursday he would use his executive powers to expand
the state's Medicaid health program for the poor, in a bid to sidestep
political opponents and bring coverage to more than 20,000 uninsured
residents the first year.
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Governor Bill Walker said Alaska would accept $146 million in
federal funds made available under President Barack Obama's
signature healthcare reform law, citing nearly 30 other states that
have expanded Medicaid coverage.
"(They) have already made the commonsense decision to accept
Medicaid expansion. Why? Because it helps their residents, their
economies and their budgets," Walker told reporters in Anchorage.
Walker, an independent, has already had several expansion efforts
blocked by the Republican-led state legislature since he took office
after winning the November 2014 election. On Thursday, he said
bypassing the legislature and accepting the funds was a final
option.
Obamacare envisions major expansions to the Medicaid program, though
about 20 U.S. states, many Republican-controlled, have rejected that
part of the law, according to Kaiser Family Foundation figures.
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Political divides have stalled the expansion of Medicaid coverage in
states concentrated in the South and central West.
In Alaska, the Legislative Budget and Audit Committee has the
authority to review requests for federal funds when the legislature
is not in session.
The committee has until Sept. 1 to vote whether or not to support
the state's request for money, or to recommend a special session of
the legislature to review expansion options.
After Walker's announcement, the committee's chairman,
Representative Mike Hawker, said the panel’s role is a formality and
simply influences how quickly the money is made available.
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In a letter to Hawker, Walker's budget director, Pat Pitney, cited
as benefits an estimated $1 billion in new federal healthcare
dollars for the next six years, $100 million in savings to the state
treasury and 4,000 new jobs.
Expansion opponents have said Alaska should not risk the possibility
the federal government would pull the program and leave the state
committed to something it cannot afford.
"Today's spending will be paid for by tomorrow's taxpayers," said
Republican state Senator John Coghill.
(Reporting by Steve Quinn; Editing by Eric M. Johnson and Eric
Beech)
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