ATLANTA (AP) — Republican governors scored easy political points by rejecting President Barack Obama's plan to enroll more poor people in government health insurance. South Carolina's leaders increased payments to some hospitals in a push to improve rural health, though the extra money likely placated hospital officials who might otherwise have pressured Republicans to adopt the Democratic plan. Like his counterparts in other Southern states, Deal has rejected Obama's plan to expand eligibility rules so people who cannot afford to buy subsidized health insurance plans on government exchanges can enroll in Medicaid, a public program that funds health care for the needy, aged, disabled and poor families with children. Georgia state Rep. Terry England, a senior Republican lawmaker tasked with drafting the budget, said he has discussed packages that could include payments to hospitals and run in the tens of millions of dollars. The state government raised the Medicaid reimbursements it pays rural, often financially struggling hospitals — from 60 percent of an uninsured patient's bill to 100 percent. In Georgia, Deal's budget officials estimate that expanding Georgia's Medicaid system over a decade would cost the state government $2.8 billion. "What makes the Medicaid expansion so hard to compete with from an alternative standpoint is that it's so much money," said Tim Sweeney, the institute's director of health policy.
Reported by SeattlePI.com 9 hours ago.
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