Who's going to take her family's health insurance away?
That thing that Republicans feared so much about Obamacare has come to pass: it became law, millions have benefitted from it, and it's now too late to undo it. Sure, most Republican candidates for Congress are still saying they're committed to repeal (though still completely incoherent on that "replace" part), but they've got an easy out on fulfilling the promise—the presidential veto. But where it really matters, in the states where millions now have insurance through Medicaid expansion and where Republican governors could potentially take it away, it's not an issue. Here's Jonathon Bernstein on the
staying power of the Medicaid expansion.
There's more evidence Obamacare is here to stay. Take a look at the governor's races in nine states where Republican candidates have a decent chance of replacing Democratic incumbents.
All of these states have carried out Medicaid expansions, a major part of the Affordable Care Act. But no matter how strongly these Republican candidates claim to hate Obamacare, check out their websites: Not a single one of the nine reveals any plans to roll back Medicaid expansion. […]
The few who aren't ducking the issue or punting on it address it with double talk and gobbledygook. The best example is in Arkansas, where Republican candidate Asa Hutchinson put out a special statement on Medicaid expansion. He takes 450 words to moan about how horrible it is that his state had to face the issue at all and how there are no good choices, yet he winds up, after paragraphs of excuses, accepting the status quo that Democratic Governor Mike Beebe is leaving behind.
Gobbledygook is essentially all any Republican candidate or incumbent has to offer when it comes to Obamacare, and what they'd do for all the people who'd lose coverage if the law were really to be repealed. Mitch McConnell definitely
takes the award for the most dishonest nonsense spewed this cycle, but he's not alone.
Let's elect some Democratic governors to get Medicaid expansion in more states. Your $3 will help.
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The nine states where Republican governor candidates are mostly dodging the issue are Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Massachusetts, Maryland, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island. In none of those states is the Republican candidate willing to stand up and say "I'll take your new Medicaid away." Of course they're not! That would be a crazy, unpopular, heartless, horrible thing to do. Which is why Obamacare is here to stay, and why all of the states will, eventually, take the Medicaid expansion.