Among the many parts of the $3.5 trillion bill Democrats are moving through Congress is a federal Medicaid program to cover mainly childless adults. Medicaid now covers 1 in 4 Americans, but Congress may soon lock even more into an expensive program with inadequate access to doctors and poor health outcomes.
Democrats are frustrated that 12 states haven’t accepted the Affordable Care Act’s cash enticements to cover able-bodied childless adults in Medicaid. Progressives have tried to go around state legislators by passing Medicaid expansion through ballot initiatives, including in Missouri. Among the holdouts are Texas and Florida, where legislators have considered and rejected Medicaid expansion.
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