Amid growing suggestions that red state Democrats will separate themselves from the Affordable Care Act in next year’s midterms, Sen. Mark Begich (D-AK) called on Alaska’s Republican governor Monday to accept the law’s Medicaid expansion.
Begich, who’s up for re-election in 2014, said Gov. Sean Parnell (R) needs to stop dragging his feet on the expansion.
“The governor’s indecision or lack of a decision is causing multiple problems,” Begich told the Juneau Empire. “Families who are just trying to buy the insurance and can get their insurance offset with the subsidy, can’t get the subsidy in the state.”
According to the Juneau Empire, Parnell is expected to make a decision on the expansion by mid-December.
While Obamacare has been beset by problems since the rollout began last month, the Medicaid expansion has been one of the law’s early success stories. The AP reported Tuesday that “Medicaid has signed up 444,000 people in 10 states in the six weeks since open enrollment began.”
