Medicaid: The state budget crusher  By Cate Long June 7, 2013
Under the Affordable Care Act, all 50 states will have exchanges
where individuals can buy healthcare insurance. But the second
leg of the ACA, whether and how much to expand Medicaid, is
every state’s choice. The Supreme Court gave states this right
when it ruled on the Affordable Care Act last June.  The Center
on Policy and Budget Priorities is mapping states’ decisions to
expand their Medicaid program (as of June 4).  Many commentators
presume that it is an ideological choice for governors to extend
or not extend public support for the uninsured through the ACA.
Pat Garofalo of US News writes:  But this has never been about
health care or cost for [Texas Governor Rick] Perry and the
other governors, including South Carolina’s Nikki Haley,
Oklahoma’s Mary Fallin or Pennsylvania’s Tom Corbett. Instead,
they are using the opportunity to score political points with a
conservative base that wants nothing to do with anything that
looks, smells or fe