Medicaid Expansion Bid Gains as Holdout States Eye New Perk

Billions of dollars in new incentives for states to expand their Medicaid programs are re-energizing advocates in the dozen states that have declined the federal assistance — and potentially aiding Democrats in future elections.

Republican-controlled legislatures or governors in 12 states declined to take advantage of the 2010 Affordable Care Act’s broadening of Medicaid. Now, Medicaid expansion advocates have something new to offer: extra money from Washington.

“For so many years it’s kind of felt like banging your head against the wall,” Hyun Namkoong, a policy advocate for the North Carolina Justice Center, a group pushing for Medicaid expansion, said. ...