ObamaCare Medicaid Expansion Hurdles Loom

[Geee]

Investors Business Daily:

Here's a rule of thumb when it comes to ObamaCare: When things seem to be going great, you're probably overlooking something big.

 

That seems to hold true with the recent momentum behind the law's Medicaid expansion.

 

Here is the good news for ObamaCare supporters:

 

Utah Gov. Gary Herbert said this week that he has just about nailed down an agreement with the Obama administration allowing the state to embrace the Medicaid expansion.

 

Last week, it was Pennsylvania's embattled GOP Gov. Tom Corbett saying the state's plan to expand Medicaid is now a done deal.

 

And just before that, Arkansas said state exchange premiums will fall 2% next year because of the relatively young group that enrolled in its groundbreaking Medicaid private option.

 

The reasons for why the outlook is not as positive as the headlines are complicated, but a good place to start is the General Accountability Office conclusion that the cost of the Arkansas private option waiver plan was, give or take, $778 million too high.

 

While the actual cost of the Arkansas program steering most of its Medicaid-eligible population to the exchange may turn out higher or lower, GAO, the investigative arm of Congress, said the waiver shouldn't have been granted based on the information provided.