Rep. Charles Boustany (R-LA), the chairman of the powerful Ways & Means oversight subcommittee, is backing away from earlier remarks in favor of Obamacare’s Medicaid expansion for Louisiana, qualifying his support by saying it must be accompanied by “significant reform.”
“To expand Medicaid without a significant reform … would be a big mistake,” he told the Baton Rouge Advocate in an article published Wednesday.
He added: “My efforts right now are in opposition to Obamacare. Medicaid is a deeply flawed program.”
Boustany, who also reportedly voiced support for a state-run exchange under the Affordable Care Act, now says he agrees with Gov. Bobby Jindal’s (R) decision not to build one.
“I agree with the state’s decision not to create an exchange,” he told the Advocate. “The federal government will have to do it.”
Last week, Boustany called on his state to accept the Medicaid expansion in order to reform it into a “21st century program” and argued that rejecting a state-run exchange could make things worse for Louisianans. The remarks, reported by the Daily Advertiser in Lafayette, constituted a break with conservatives who want state leaders to reject the Medicaid expansion and a state exchange.
“It could put Louisiana in a very bad place,” he told constituents last week. “To sit back and do nothing is not an answer.”
