The big Obamacare news last week wasn't at the Supreme Court. It was in Kansas. [View all]

[babylonsister]

The big Obamacare news last week wasn't at the Supreme Court. It was in Kansas.

Updated by Sarah Kliff on March 9, 2015, 9:10 a.m. ET @sarahkliff [e-mail]


The Supreme Court got most of the attention on Obamacare this week, as it heard oral arguments in King v. Burwell. While that's an important case, the actual arguments don't change much: court-watchers know it's impossible to ballpark a case off of the single hour of public questioning.

The really big developments on Obamacare — ones that could actually expand coverage — weren't happening at the court. They were happening across the country, in statehouses. As legislative sessions come to a close, three states are starting to weigh the possibility of signing on to Obamacare's Medicaid expansion.

Kansas, Utah, and Montana all took steps towards the coverage expansion this week, a move that could expand health-care coverage to 297,000 of their low-income residents. They're among the 22 states that have not expanded their Medicaid programs after the Supreme Court made that part of the health law optional in 2012.

One reason states may be considering the program now: the federal government will pick up the entire cost of expansion through 2016. After that, states have to start chipping in a little bit. By 2020, the federal government will cover 90 percent of the costs and expect states to pick up the rest. States that get in early, before 2016, end up getting a better deal.

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http://www.vox.com/2015/3/9/8163039/obamacare-medicaid-brownback