Legislators: State Must Find Funding After Medicaid Ruling

Photo: Lance McCord (Flickr)

Because of the Supreme Court decision states are not obligated by law to expand their Medicaid programs, but could lose future funding if they do not.

In the wake of the Supreme Court’s ruling that the Affordable Care Act is constitutional, Hoosier lawmakers are now focusing on what the decision means for the state.

One of the key parts of the ruling prohibits the federal government from forcing states to expand Medicaid coverage to more people. The expansion would be paid for by the federal government for the first two years but the states would then have to partially chip in dollars after that.

Gary Democratic Representative Charlie Brown says he would like to see Indiana participate in the expansion but understands that because it involves a cost to the state, further study is needed.

“One would have to look at how far can we go, how many more people can we include under the Medicaid program by expanding it,” he says.

Crawfordsville Republican Representative Tim Brown says he’s relieved the Supreme Court’s ruling means the state won’t be forced into a decision.

“We were coming to a place and time where it was going to make some really tough decisions and now there is more options, there’s more flexibility with what the state can do,” he says.

Tim Brown says whether the state participates will depend largely on who the next governor will be.