Little noticed in all of the celebrating over the Supreme Court's decision was the part of it that said that the federal government cannot take away federal funding for states that refuse to implement the Medicaid expansion that is contained in the Affordable Care Act. States will be reimbursed for the expansion 100% in 2014 with decreasing amounts to 95% in 2017 and 90% in 2020 according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett(R) hasn't said if he will participate the expansion which could cover about an additional 800,000 of the state's estimated 1.4 million uninsured in 2009. So far the governors of Florida, Louisiana, and South Carolina have said that their states will not participate in the expansion even though about 900,000 and 300,000 would become eligible in each state respectively.
Right after the Supreme Court announced its decision on Thursday David Cole at The Nation said on Democracy Now! that "we shouldn't let the perfect be the enemy of the good." I say we shouldn't let the lousy be the enemy of the good either. A system that mandates care for all is what is needed as Walter Tsou points out in Common Dreams.
