Pennsylvania to expand Medicaid under O-Care

Pennsylvania will become the 27th state to expand Medicaid next year after Republican Gov. Tom Corbett (R) struck a deal with the Obama administration. 

The agreement was announced Thursday and made Corbett the ninth Republican governor to accept the policy, which has divided the GOP since it was made optional in 2012. 

{mosads}The expansion will cover half a million low-income Pennsylvanians. Premiums will be levied for adults above the poverty line starting in 2016, but federal regulators said they must not exceed 2 percent of household income. 

These specifics were part of the agreement between federal health officials and Corbett, who had previously resisted the expansion on the grounds that states will have to eventually pay for 10 percent of the cost. 

Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Administrator Marilyn Tavenner congratulated the state but lamented that others have not chosen the expansion. 

The administration is “committed to supporting state flexibility and working with states on innovative solutions that work within the confines of the law to expand Medicaid,” Tavenner said in a statement. 

“Unfortunately, millions of Americans are still without Medicaid coverage because their state has yet to act.” 

The CMS said that no work requirements — once a priority for Corbett — were approved as part of the expansion.