Gov. Bobby Jindal is putting his prospects for being president ahead of the best interests of Louisiana’s economy and its residents’ health, U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., said Tuesday.
Her criticism stemmed from Jindal’s
refusal to participate in the Medicaid expansion. Under the Affordable
Care Act, or Obamacare,
the federal government would cover $25 billion of the cost for
expanding Medicaid over the next decade.
The state would pay $1.8 billion of that cost, which would cover more than 400,000 uninsured residents. Initially, Obamacare required states to implement the Medicaid expansion, but a U.S. Supreme Court decision
last June left the decision to the states.
“It’s very disheartening to me and a growing number of people in our state,” Landrieu said at a news conference. “It’s his
quest to be the next president and to check off the
More than 15,000 jobs would be created in the health care sector by 2016, according to a report released by Families USA in
conjunction with the Louisiana Healthcare Coalition.
“If he would get his mind and his heart on the people he’s representing, we might have some better outcomes,” Landrieu said,
adding that Jindal’s “obstructionism” is a “pattern that is very worrisome.”
“Southwest Louisiana and all of our state would suffer if Governor Jindal does not expand Medicaid,” Landrieu said in a prepared
statement after the news conference.
“Right now, 18 percent of people in
Calcasieu Parish and 23 percent in Cameron Parish lack health insurance.
That’s approximately
31,339 people in the Lake Charles metropolitan area alone that
could become healthier and more productive members of our workforce
thanks to the Medicaid expansion.”
Not only would Louisiana receive money from the federal government, but Ron Pollack, executive director of Families USA, said
the state “would save money” by opting into the Medicaid expansion.
So far, seven Republican governors have opted in. Pollack, who led the news conference, echoed Landrieu’s statements, adding
that the real distinction between these governors and Jindal is that Jindal is a potential presidential candidate.
“The state has to pay for significant
costs for those uninsured people who get care and cannot pay for it,”
Pollack said in
his report at the news conference. “We estimate over the next
decade the state’s budget would experience a savings of approximately
$267 million.”
By Jindal rejecting the expansion, he is “committing fiscal malpractice” on behalf of Louisiana, Pollack said.
Following the news conference, the governor’s office released a statement in which Jindal said that if Louisiana opted into
that Medicaid ex
“The reality is Medicaid relies on an outdated model that costs taxpayers billions of dollars for poor outcomes,” Jindal said
in the prepared statement.
“Yet President Obama and his ally,
Senator Landrieu, would have you believe that a government program is
good for economic
development. It’s a fundamental philosophical difference. Senator
Landrieu and President Obama believe that growing government
will help grow jobs. That’s not how the economy works.”