Reminder: A Strong Majority Of States ‘Remain Either Defiant Or Undecided’ About Expanding Medicaid

The Associated Press kind of buried the lede this weekend in a story about state legislatures supposedly wanting to “make a deal” with the federal government to expand their Medicaid programs. The story pretty well captures supporters’ movement from the “economic development argument” for a Medicaid expansion to the “inevitability argument” — that it is just a matter of time before Affordable Care Act opponents are forced to expand their Medicaid programs. But if you read down, you will find this tidbit six paragraphs deep. (Emphasis mine.):

Officials in about 30 states that are home to more than 25 million uninsured residents remain either defiant or undecided about implementing Obama’s Medicaid expansion, according to an Associated Press survey.

In other words? A majority of states have not yet implemented the Medicaid expansion, and many are vehemently rejecting it. The Missouri Legislature has repeatedly rejected expansion proposals, for good reason: The “Affordable Care Act” is patently unaffordable, and it seems that most states — Missouri included — are not exactly chomping at the bit to bring many of the law’s burdensome provisions back home.

Inevitable? Far from it.