Faulty Republican Medicaid Logic

Republicans have been feeding this false narrative of the federal government will renege on their commitment for Medicaid funding. The latest to express uncertainty is Florida State Rep. John Wood.

“There is a great deal of uncertainty out there and that just makes me cautious,” Wood said.

Gov. Rick Scott was busted for falsely stating that Florida would pay the bulk of the cost for Medicaid expansion. The truth is that the federal government will pay for the bulk of the cost.

This funding is unlike past efforts to expand Medicaid in that the federal government will pick up the full tab for the first three years. The state gradually has to pick up some costs in 2017 but by 2020 the federal government is still picking up 90 percent or more of the Medicaid tab.

Jonathan Chait made the point that Republicans will make any disingenuous argument to not make a deal with President Obama on the sequester.

If Obama could get hold of Klein’s mystery legislator and inform him of his budget offer, it almost certainly wouldn’t make a difference. He would come up with something – the cuts aren’t real, or the taxes are awful, or they can’t trust Obama to carry them out, or something.

Florida Republicans are using the same bogus rationale that congressional Republicans are using on the sequester. Republicans will argue that the federal government will not cover Florida's Medicaid expenses. Never mind that the federal government covers the majority of Florida's Medicaid cost. This is the logic Florida House Republicans used to vote against Medicaid expansion.