A Nod Toward Reality

Today heads are exploding in Rightieland, because Florida Governor Rick Scott has reversed course and decided to go along with the “Obamacare” Medicaid expansion.

You might remember that last summer’s SCOTUS decision declared that states could not be forced to expand Medicaid, as called for in the Affordable Care Act. The baggers immediately seized on this as a means to foil Obamacare and prevent it from succeeding. You can keep tabs on which states are in and which states are out on this website.

Scott was all lined up to nix Medicaid expansion, but he has changed his mind and will expand. Erick Erickson’s heart is broken..

Do read “What’s It Like to Wake Up From a Tea Party Binge? Just Ask Florida!” by Stephanie Mencimer at Mother Jones. It’s quite an eye-opener, and a jaw-dropper. It was written before Scott’s flipflop. But it includes this bit:

If Florida rejects the Medicaid expansion, state hospitals stand to lose about $654 million a year in federal payments for care to the uninsured—payments that were reduced in Obamacare on the assumption that hospitals would gain revenue by caring for the newly insured.

One wonders if Scott’s former cronies in the hospital biz leaned on him to change his mind.

Also read Jonathan Chait’s comments on Scott’s change of heart. I started to excerpt part of it, but it’s all good. So just go there.