Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal on why he opposes the expansion of Medicaid in his state:
This week, the Louisiana Legislature will begin debating legislation that would force Louisiana to expand Medicaid as part of President Obama's health care law. It's a bad move for Louisiana taxpayers. Here are seven reasons why we shouldn't expand Medicaid.
1. The expansion of Medicaid will move up to 171,000 Louisianians off of private insurance and stop another 77,000 people from going into private insurance. Combined, that would force about 248,000 people out of private coverage and put them into the Medicaid program. The actual uninsured population that should be focused on is about 214,000 people. Instead, President Obama's healthcare law would actually add double that number—over 450,000 people—to the Medicaid rolls.
2. President Obama's Medicaid expansion could cost taxpayers in Louisiana $1.7 billion over the first 10 years of implementation, and the cost will continue to rise. Additionally, the percentage of state funds spent on Medicaid has nearly doubled over the past 16 years and expanding the program could further threaten funding for higher education, transportation, and other critical services.
3. By expanding President Obama's healthcare law, 41 percent of Louisiana's population would be dumped into Medicaid. Soon there will be more people riding in the cart than people pulling the cart. The President is gradually turning the world's greatest health care system into the world's largest welfare system. The left has been very clear—their end goal here is to make all healthcare in America government health care.
Read the full column here.
This week, the Louisiana Legislature will begin debating legislation that would force Louisiana to expand Medicaid as part of President Obama's health care law. It's a bad move for Louisiana taxpayers. Here are seven reasons why we shouldn't expand Medicaid.
1. The expansion of Medicaid will move up to 171,000 Louisianians off of private insurance and stop another 77,000 people from going into private insurance. Combined, that would force about 248,000 people out of private coverage and put them into the Medicaid program. The actual uninsured population that should be focused on is about 214,000 people. Instead, President Obama's healthcare law would actually add double that number—over 450,000 people—to the Medicaid rolls.
2. President Obama's Medicaid expansion could cost taxpayers in Louisiana $1.7 billion over the first 10 years of implementation, and the cost will continue to rise. Additionally, the percentage of state funds spent on Medicaid has nearly doubled over the past 16 years and expanding the program could further threaten funding for higher education, transportation, and other critical services.
3. By expanding President Obama's healthcare law, 41 percent of Louisiana's population would be dumped into Medicaid. Soon there will be more people riding in the cart than people pulling the cart. The President is gradually turning the world's greatest health care system into the world's largest welfare system. The left has been very clear—their end goal here is to make all healthcare in America government health care.
Read the full column here.
