Governor Jack Dalrymple Signs Obamacare Expansion Of Medicaid Into Law
North Dakota Governor Jack Dalrymple
There was no question that he was going to sign it – Governor Jack Dalrymple slipped the expansion into his Human Services budget before the legislative session even began – but it’s depressing to see it happen none-the-less.
BISMARCK — Republican Gov. Jack Dalrymple has signed legislation to expand Medicaid to cover more uninsured residents of North Dakota.
North Dakota’s Medicaid program now covers about 65,000 people a month. Dalrymple’s endorsement on Tuesday means an additional 20,000 people — mostly adults without children — would be added to the program.
Medicaid expansion is a component of the federal Affordable Care Act championed by President Barack Obama
Just so we’re clear, we’re talking about a 30% expansion of what is already one of the nation’s most costly and bloated entitlement programs.
The legislation was amended to end the expansion should federal funding for it fall bellow a certain level, but the idea that we’re ever going to be able to undo this sort of an expansion is ridiculous.
As House Majority Leader Al Carlson noted in his floor speech after the House approved this expansion, our state’s leaders have never stopped a program liked this before once started. And we aren’t likely to start with Medicaid:
