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Wednesday, August 20, 2014

Chris Christie is lone GOP presidential prospect to expand Medicaid

Chris Christie is lone GOP presidential prospect to expand Medicaid

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie’s decision to expand Medicaid under Obamacare puts him alone among Republican governors vying for the 2016 presidential nomination, and could come back to haunt him among primary voters.

Some of his potential rivals who are also governors have sought ways to leverage federal money, and others have spurned the Medicaid expansion altogether. Mr. Christie, however, embraced President Obama’s vision of expanding the federal-state health care program for the poor to those with incomes up to 138 percent of the poverty level.

Mr. Christie, like many other Republican governors, did reject efforts to have New Jersey set up its own health care exchange, but his embrace of Medicare does create a political problem similar to the one that dogged 2012 Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney.

“The farther away from Obamacare any governor is, the better off they are,” said Charlie Gerow, a board member at the American Conservative Union, which grades members on their commitments to conservative values.

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3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Yes, because he was doing what was best for his people in NJ. The rest of the fools were just looking to make their careers on the backs of their people. Shame on them.

Anonymous said...

9:27 - Yes - his people in NJ only - not the bigger picture of the nation....if he has aspirations of national office, he should have acted in the best interest of the entire country - meaning he messed up!

Anonymous said...

He has a obligation to do the job he was elected to do not work on his aspirations. I respect that.