<html><body><div style="color:#000; background-color:#fff; font-family:arial, helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:10pt"><div><div class="slb-post-header" style="margin: 43px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><h2 class="slb-post-title" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 1.8em; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.slate.com/blogs/moneybox/2013/01/15/arizona_medicaid_expansion_jan_brewer_wants_that_federal_money.html" class="slb-post-title-link" style="color: rgb(0, 102, 153); text-decoration: initial; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgb(255, 255, 153);">Jan Brewer Wants To Expand Arizona's Medicaid Program, and She's Right</a></h2><div class="slb-post-creds" style="margin: 0px 0px 3px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 1em; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;
line-height: 1.5em;"><div class="slb-post-byline" style="margin-bottom: 0.25em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(0, 102, 153); font-family: georgia, serif; font-style: italic; float: left; line-height: 1.5em;">By <a rel="author" href="http://www.slate.com/authors.matthew_yglesias.html" style="color: rgb(0, 102, 153); text-decoration: initial; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgb(255, 255, 153);">Matthew Yglesias</a></div><div class="slb-post-dateline" style="margin-top: 1px; margin-bottom: 0.25em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 0.9em; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(102, 102, 102); float: left; line-height: 1.5em;"> | </div><div class="slb-post-dateline" style="margin-top: 1px; margin-bottom: 0.25em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 0.9em; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(102, 102, 102); float: left; line-height: 1.5em;">Posted <span href="#"
style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">Tuesday, Jan. 15, 2013,</span></div><div class="slb-post-dateline" style="margin-top: 1px; margin-bottom: 0.25em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; color: rgb(102, 102, 102); float: left; line-height: 1.5em; font-family: arial, sans-serif; background-color: transparent; font-style: normal;"><span href="#" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><br></span></div></div></div><div id="slb-post-body-9" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><div class="blog-index-body" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 0.923em; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; font-family: verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 1.5em;"><div class="body"
style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><div class="text parbase section" style="margin: 1.5em 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><div style="margin-bottom: 1.25em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1.5em;">In a fairly surprising development, Arizona governor and staunch conservative Jan Brewer said yesterday that she thinks the state should expand its Medicaid program in line with the generous federal grant formula provided under the Affordable Care Act. This <em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;">shouldn't </em>be surprising, as the law is written to be <em style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align:
baseline;">extremely</em> generous to conservative states with stingy Medicaid programs. Turning the federal dollars down would be an act of extreme economic foolishness, but most Republican governors and state legislators seem inclined to do it simply to demonstrate their anti-Obamacare zeal.</div></div><div class="text parbase section" style="margin: 1.5em 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><div style="margin-bottom: 1.25em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1.5em;">Brewer, by contrast, took the key anti-expansion talking point and wants to address the concern rather than using it as a pretext. As Jeffrey Young and John Celock explain, she's making sure the Arizona state budget is protected:</div></div><div class="text parbase section" style="margin: 1.5em 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 12px; font: inherit;
vertical-align: baseline;"><blockquote style="margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto; padding: 0px 40px; border: 0px; font-size: 0.9em; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; quotes: none; line-height: 1.6em;">In announcing her decision to lawmakers in Phoenix, Brewer emphasized her continued concern that the federal government may cut back on its share of financing the Medicaid expansion and said she would put plans in place to protect the state's budget. Under Obamacare, the federal government will pay the full cost of covering newly eligible individuals from 2014 to 2016, and then will scale back funding to 90 percent by 2022.</blockquote></div><div class="text parbase section" style="margin: 1.5em 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><blockquote style="margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto; padding: 0px 40px; border: 0px; font-size: 0.9em; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; quotes: none;
line-height: 1.6em;">"As I weighed this decision, I was troubled that a future president and Congress would reduce matching rates," Brewer said. "Together with my team, I have crafted a plan that addresses both of those concerns and safeguards Arizona."</blockquote></div><div class="text parbase section" style="margin: 1.5em 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><blockquote style="margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto; padding: 0px 40px; border: 0px; font-size: 0.9em; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; quotes: none; line-height: 1.6em;">Brewer's plan includes what she described as a "circuit breaker," which would automatically shrink the state's Medicaid program in the event that the federal government were to decrease funding.</blockquote></div><div class="text parbase section" style="margin: 1.5em 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><div
style="margin-bottom: 1.25em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1.5em;">That's a solid idea. Brewer is joined in support of expansion by her fellow southwestern Republican governors Susanna Martinez of New Mexico and Brian Sandoval of Nevada. But both Martinez and Sandoval have reputations as moderates—that's why neither of them is touted as the Great Hispanic Hope that Marco Rubio is—and govern blue-tinged states whereas Brewer is a solid conservative and Arizona is a solid red state. But as economic policy, this is a no-brainer. There's a lot of interest lately in <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/13/magazine/washingtons-economic-boom-financed-by-you.html?ref=annielowrey" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(0, 102, 153); text-decoration: initial; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgb(255, 255, 153);">the impact of federal spending on the D.C.-area economy</a>, but the bulk of
federal spending is on transfer programs—Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, etc.—and goes out to wherever people live.</div></div><div class="text parbase section" style="margin: 1.5em 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline;"><div style="margin-bottom: 1.25em; padding: 0px; border: 0px; font-size: 12px; font: inherit; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1.5em;">States with large uninsured populations will get a windfall from Medicaid expansion that will provide new clients for local health care providers, while increasing the disposable incomes of the formerly uninsured. Under the circumstances, it's remarkable that Brewer's decision is remarkable. And yet it is.</div></div></div></div></div></div></div></body></html>