Obama Announces New Budget; Texas Refuses Medicaid Expansion

Texas Continues to Refuse the Medicaid Expansion

Last June, the Supreme Court struck down a requirement of the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, that would have forced states to expand Medicaid coverage to cover a greater amount of their uninsured. States, states have a choice whether or not to implement the Medicaid expansion, which the federal government will fund fully for the first three years, and cover all but up to 10 percent in those years following. The expansion will include those 138 percent below the poverty line who are between the ages of 18 and 64. A number of states have since vowed opt out of the expansion... the largest being Texas. 

The White House today released the outline of the annual budget proposal they will announce next week. More conservative than the president’s last budget proposal and the Senate budget passed recently, analysts are seeing a lot of compromise. Some of the compromise is likely to garner criticism such as cuts to Social Security. However, such efforts to get House Republicans to pass such proposals don’t seem to be working as House Speaker John Boehner has already said the president is holding real reform to entitlements – quote – hostage. We talk to Bernie Becker, Staff Writer for The Hill.