“Show Me State” Abandons Trumpian Orbit and Embraces Medicaid Expansion.

Posted on | August 18, 2020 | 4 Comments

Mike Magee

Idaho

Utah

Oklahoma

Nebraska

Maine

…..

(and now) Missouri.

Since 2017, six Republican-led states have buckled under the crippling costs of health care and embraced the ACA offer to subsidize expanded Medicaid coverage for vulnerable populations in their states.

The “Show Me State” showed its defiance and hard-heartedness until their state budget bled bright red in response to mismanagement of the Covid-19 pandemic. The final reversal came in earshot of Trump’s musings to Chris Wallace on FOX about a “health-care plan within two weeks, a full and complete health-care plan” and laughable pledges to “repeal Obamacare” just as 45 million additional Americans became unemployed and uninsured simultaneously.

By 6%, Missourians voted to extend health coverage to an additional 200,000 state dwellers. Those votes came dramatically from former Trump leaning suburbians. Even the state’s rural voters are beginning to get the message, having seen 10 rural hospitals shut their doors in the past few years.

Twelve hold-out states remain – 8 of the 12 from the Old South. That leaves some 2 million vulnerable citizens without coverage that is readily available. Polls in those states show that 2/3rds of their citizens favor Medicaid expansion in opposition to their own governors – and that was before the pandemic. Even in red counties of red states, 1/3 of Republicans are polling in favor of Medicaid expansion.

Democratic politicians like Montana Senate candidate Steve Bullock are running with the news. He’s up on the air promoting state expansion of Medicaid to benefit “rural hospitals all across Montana.”

Who’s next? All eyes are on Florida and its 2.7 million uninsured residents.