Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett has publicly expressed concern over whether the federal government will approve the state’s attempt to expand its Medicaid program under terms made possible by the federal health care reform law.
Both Corbett and Department of Public Welfare Secretary Beverly Mackereth have suggested that negotiations between the state and federal officials have not been going well.
The state submitted an application for a waiver from selected federal Medicaid requirements in February and has modified its proposal once since then, withdrawing a controversial mandatory job-search requirement.  The application is currently undergoing a period of open public comment while state and federal officials negotiate its terms.
Under the Corbett administration’s Healthy Pennsylvania proposal, the state would expand Medicaid eligibility as envisioned under the federal Affordable Care Act but instead of simply opening up its current Medicaid program to the newly eligible, it would underwrite their enrollment in private health insurance plans chosen by those individuals.
Learn more about the latest developments in the state’s attempt to take Medicaid expansion in a decidedly different direction in this Philadelphia Inquirer article.