Legal Commentary

Federalize Medicaid

By Big Tent Democrat

Good post from Ezra:

Ben Nelson is getting a lot of blowback for the deal he struck exempting Nebraska from paying for its Medicaid expansion. But though it was his deal, it wasn't his preference. It was Harry Reid's. And Reid made the right decision. [. . .] That's created a few days of bad press, but as Tom Harkin points out, it could eventually lead to good policy. "When you look at it, I thought well, God, good, it is going to be the impetus for all the states to stay at 100 percent [federal funding]," Harkin told reporters. "So he might have done all of us a favor."

Harkin is right about this. One of the best things the bill could do would be to federalize Medicaid, and federalizing the Medicaid expansion is a good first step.

(Emphasis supplied.) If this bill serves as a camel's nose under the tent for federalizing Medicaid while expanding it, it would indeed be one of the most progressive pieces of legislation in some time. It would be ironic if Ben Nelson were the catalyst for that.

Speaking for me only

Full post as published by TalkLeft on December 23, 2009 (boomark / email).