The Fate Of 16.8 Million Medicaid Enrollees Rests On 20 GOP Senators From 14 States

The Fate Of 16.8 Million Medicaid Enrollees Rests On 20 GOP Senators From 14 States
The Senate is drafting a health care bill that could erase hundreds of billions in Medicaid funding.
By Jeffrey Young , Alissa Scheller 06/02/2017 04:08 am ET

The Senate is on the verge of debating legislation to repeal and “replace” the Affordable Care Act, and Medicaid is on the chopping block.

Whatever happens next with Obamacare repeal and the future of Medicaid will depend in large measure on whether GOP senators choose to fight for the combined 16.8 million of their constituents on Medicaid, including 4.3 million who gained Medicaid coverage because of the Affordable Care Act, according to data from state agencies compiled by HuffPost.

The vast majority of Americans support continuing the Medicaid expansions, including 93 percent of Democrats, 83 percent of independents and 71 percent of Republicans, according to a survey conducted this month by the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. More than seven in 10 favor leaving current federal funding for Medicaid overall in place, the poll found.

More than 30 percent of those living in Sen. John Kennedy’s Louisiana, Sens. John Boozman and Tom Cotton’s Arkansas, and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Sen. Rand Paul’s Kentucky are Medicaid beneficiaries. More than one-fifth of those living in eight of the other states with Republicans senators are enrolled in Medicaid.


http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/the-fate-of-medicaid-enrollees-rests-on-20-gop-senators-from-14-states_us_592ed8a6e4b0e09b11ec90be?z9g&ncid=inblnkushpmg00000009