Gov. Brewer’s beneficence really motivated by immigrants?
Posted by AzBlueMeanie:
The Arizona media has given Governor Jan Brewer props for her decision to support Arizona's participation in the expanded Medicaid provisions of the Affordable Care Act ("ObamaCare"). Governor Brewer was cast as a beneficent leader bestowing mercy on the unfortunate in need of medical care.
Now we learn that Brewer's beneficence may have really been motivated by immigrants (but of course). Sarah Kliff at Ezra Klein's Wonkblog writes, Arizona could make the Medicaid expansion an immigration fight:
Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer’s decision to participate in the Medicaid
expansion was a puzzling one: Why would one of the nation’s most
conservative governors opt into an Obamacare program that most of her
Republican colleagues have rejected?
New budget memos
from the state provide some insight: Opting out of the Medicaid
expansion had the potential to give immigrants better access to health
care than American citizens.
This small quirk in the Affordable Care Act that Arizona stumbled on
could significantly reshape the politics for governors weighing whether
to sign up for the health law’s Medicaid expansion.
The dilemma raised by Brewer’s budget advisers is this: Turning down
the Medicaid expansion would mean giving low income, legal immigrants
access to private insurance subsidies unavailable to American citizens.