With newly released figures showing three million people had gained health coverage through a major expansion of Medicaid as of the end of February, the White House used that growing number to again press a number of Republican governors to drop their opposition to another controversial part of the Obama health law.
"The increase in Medicaid enrollments across the country is encouraging, but more work is left to do to ensure that the millions of uninsured Americans eligible for these programs gain coverage," said HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius.
The White House though was a bit more pointed in its own comments about the higher Medicaid numbers, which are certain to grow even more in the months ahead despite GOP resistance in populous states like Texas, Georgia, Florida, North Carolina and Pennsylvania.
"Nearly half of states are so locked into the politics of Obamacare that they're willing to leave nearly 5.7 million of their own people uninsured," read a White House web page devoted to the issue.
26 states have accepted the expanded Medicaid program, one part of the Obama health law, in which the federal government will pay 100 percent of the costs for states to extend coverage to newly eligible patients for the first three years.
After the first three years, the federal contribution for new eligibles will phase down to 90 percent by 2020.
But that financial arrangement has not drawn the interest of a number of states, as 24 - most with Republican governors and/or legislatures - have opted against the Medicare expansion plan.
The 3 million new people in Medicaid is not counted as part of the over 7 million who have enrolled in private health insurance under the Obama health law; the figure is expected to go up as there is no deadline to get that Medicaid coverage.
Here is a list of the 24 states that have not expanded their Medicaid program, and the number of people the Obama Administration claims could gain health coverage through that expansion:
Democrats have tried to for months to increase pressure on the GOP over the Medicaid expansion issue; for example, in Florida this past week, Democrat Charlie Crist used it to attack Gov. Rick Scott (R) in their increasingly testy election fight.
But this isn't the only controversial issue dealing with the Obama health law, as Gov. Scott and other Republicans - joined at times by some Democrats in Congress - have questioned Medicare Advantage cuts for seniors under the Obama health law.
"It is critical that seniors enrolled in traditional Medicare and Medicare Advantage can keep the coverage on which they depend," said Rep. Patrick Murphy (D-FL), who led speeches on the House floor this past week by Democrats against the reductions in that popular program.
"The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services recently proposed a 5.9 percent cut to this program," said Rep. John Barrow (D-GA), arguing that would mean benefit cuts and higher premiums of "$35 to $75 a month."
"That is an added cost that many seniors simply cannot afford to pay every single month," Barrow added.
"My colleagues and I are strongly advocating against changes to Medicare that would disrupt the lives of seniors," said Rep. Joe Garcia (D-FL).
On the House floor, Garcia complained about "misleading" attacks on his record dealing with Medicare, as Republicans have tried to use the Medicare Advantage cuts as part of their attacks on Democrats over the Obama health law.
One irony about that GOP criticism over $700 billion in Medicare cuts by the Obama Administration through the health law is that the latest budget from Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) for the House GOP keeps those Medicare savings in place.
The difference is, the GOP would use the money saved by cuts to Medicare providers for deficit reduction; Democrats use the money to fund the overall Obama health law.
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