Consequences of Refusing Medicaid Expansion in Louisiana

Perhaps the most significant of Barack Obama’s presidential achievements will be the passage of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA). He signed ACA, also frequently called “ObamaCare,” into law on March 23, 2010, but several milestones had to be overcome before the act went into effect in 2014. ACA was intended to increase the affordability and accessibility of quality healthcare to the American people. While these goals, at their most rudimentary form, appear to be benevolent enough, the law has been the source of many heated debates and lawsuits over the past few years.
ACA was intended to use several mechanisms to increase people’s access to health insurance. (Dickman, Himmelstein, McCormick, & Woolhandler, 2014) The law called for states to set up online health insurance exchanges for people to compare and shop for health insurance policies. Individuals and families earning up to 400 percent of the Federal Poverty Level (FPL) would be eligible for a subsidy to help pay for their policy. The 2014 FPL for a family of four is $23,850. (2014 Poverty Guidelines, 2014) The law also required most uninsured people whose income exceeds 138 percent of the FPL to either purchase health insurance or be subject to penalties. Another condition called for states to offer Medicaid coverage to people with incomes below 138 percent of the FPL. This would mean a family of four earning $33,000, would make too much to qualify. This provision is frequently referred to as Medicaid Expansion.
Medicaid is a program funded by both the federal and state governments to provide health insurance coverage to low income Individuals. The amount of federal funds provided to states varies and is determined by the average per capita income. (A Guide to the Supreme Court’s Affordable Care Act Decision, 2012) States are