Still rejecting expansion of the state’s Medicaid program as envisioned under the Affordable Care Act, Pennsylvania Tom Corbett has indicated that he may be interested in following the lead of a few other states in attempting to use federal Medicaid expansion money to purchase private health insurance for newly eligible Medicaid recipients.
This news comes in the aftermath of the governor’s Washington, D.C. visit with Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius during which the two officials discussed the governor’s reluctance to incur the future cost increases that he believes the state will face under Medicaid expansion.
Recently, the governors of Arkansas, Ohio, and several other states have expressed interest in purchasing private insurance for new Medicaid recipients instead of expanding their states’ traditional Medicaid programs.
Read more about Governor Corbett’s meeting with Secretary Sebelius and the possibility that the state’s closed door to the question of Medicaid expansion is now slightly ajar in this Philadelphia Inquirer article.