Gruber on Arkansas Private Option: “Mathematically Impossible” to Be Budget Neutral
November was a bad month for Obamacare. Over just a few weeks, voters not only handed a series of punishing defeats to Obamacare at the ballot box, but the Supreme Court unexpectedly granted a hearing to the lawsuit King v. Burwell, which poses a serious threat to the future of the law.
Those setbacks haven’t quite kept Missouri’s Obamacare supporters from pushing ahead with their Medicaid expansion plans. In fact, some Missouri politicians have tried to use Arkansas’ Medicaid “transformation” as a reason to expand Medicaid in Missouri. But recent video revelations confirm that the state’s decision not to follow Arkansas’ lead was the right call.
In April 2013, Arkansas passed a Medicaid expansion more commonly known as the “Private Option.” The expansion uses federal Medicaid dollars to pay for Obamacare exchange health care plans for newly eligible Medicaid beneficiaries. Supporters claimed that the plan would save Arkansas money, but as it turns out, that was likely never going to be the case. Indeed, Obamacare architect Jonathan Gruber, who hailed his law’s lack of transparency, said as much . . . in October 2013, in a video only now coming to light:
The video is only the latest setback for Arkansas Obamacare supporters. After losing his State Senate primary, Arkansas’ chief Obamacare Medicaid architect won’t be returning next year to the legislature, largely due to his support of the expansion. And after last month’s general election, Arkansas might actually roll back its Obamacare expansion.
Missourians are being sold a bill of goods on Obamacare’s Medicaid expansion, just like Arkansas was before them. We deserve better than tired, old political strategies, and rather than look at Arkansas as an example to be followed, Missouri should look at it as a cautionary tale to be avoided.
