In a bold move this week, Gov. Jan Brewer (R-Ariz.) called a special session to expand Medicaid measures in her state. Brewer, known to be a staunch critic of Obama, surprised many in her party and set a precedent that other conservative states might follow.
On "Up with Steve," Business Insider's Josh Barro, Center of Social Inclusion's Maya Wiley, Politico's Maggie Haberman and Slate's Matt Yglesias discussed the possibility of Medicaid expansion in other states, which Yglesias feels is likely:
"In a lot of ways, the surprising thing about this is the fact that is has become surprising to see Republicans embrace this. When the Democrats were writing the Obamacare bill, they knew some states were more conservative than others. They knew that Republicans wouldn't be enthusiastic about this. They made the terms of Medicaid expansion extremely generous. It's all federal money and the people who live in Arizona, Michigan or wherever are paying taxes to the federal government one way or the other. Not expanding Medicaid doesn't save anyone money. It just costs your local healthcare providers and local citizens a bundle. When the bill was first passed I think no one thought this was so controversial and now Jan Brewer is doing what is simply the common sense solution and saying if the federal government is here, take my money. You take it. What is weird is so many Republicans don't see it that way."
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