Former Louisiana governor and future Christian broadcasting host Bobby Jindal (R) has officially been replaced by Governor John Bel Edwards (D) and, on his first full day in office, Edwards signed an executive order to expand Medicaid under Obamacare.
"By July 1, we expect more than 300,000 hard-working citizens will have the comfort and security of health coverage," Edwards said. "This will not only afford them peace of mind, but also help prevent them from slipping further into poverty and give them a fighting chance for a better life." [...]
The state has secured financial commitments from health care providers to fund the estimated $2.8 million in startup costs for the expansion.
To be clear, this is only happening now because the people of Louisiana made the right choice and elected a Democrat. We would not be having this discussion if they chose to elect David Vitter, another Republican.
Louisiana ranks among the poorest and unhealthiest states in the nation and they more than most others will greatly benefit from the expansion of Medicaid; an expansion denied to them for years by former Governor Bobby Jindal. For Jindal, giving people a "fighting chance for a better life," as Governor Edwards put it, is tantamount to tyranny.
Expanding Medicaid will cost the people of Louisiana nothing over the next year and very little thereafter as the federal government covers 100 percent of the cost through 2017, 95 percent of the cost through 2020, and 90 percent of the cost from that point forward.
As Governor Edwards pointed out when he signed the order, Louisiana taxpayer dollars have already been used to pay for Medicaid expansion in other states. Edwards' order will simply allow some of that money to remain in Louisiana. Under Bobby Jindal's reign, taxpayers in the state paid for a program he did not allow them to use.