Bring Medicaid to the People

The failure of Obamacare’s opponents in Washington is prompting reconsideration among its opponents outside Washington. The end of the congressional effort to repeal the law has deprived leaders in 19 states of their rationale for rejecting federal money to expand Medicaid.

Expanding Medicaid enrollment to childless adults near the poverty line was one of the key goals of the Affordable Care Act, which boosted the number of people receiving care through Medicaid by more than 11 million, to 74 million. The cost, more than a half trillion dollars for Medicaid overall, is vast by almost any measure -- except as compared with the cost of private insurance plans, in which case it looks economical.