is the mid-term elections inched closer and closer this issue medicaid expansion is starting to look like a winner for democrats especially democrats in tight red state races while many democrats from conservative states are trying to distance themselves from obamacare others are hoping the g.o.p. opposition to medicaid expansion of the health care law as most popular components will help them keep control of the senate that's why democratic. activists and lawmakers in louisiana and montana are trying to put medicaid expansion on their state's election ballots they believe the by putting expansion front and center voters or volt against republican sabotage and swing to the left come november joining me for now and now for more on this is neil's roca progressive strategist and communications director for democracy for america neil welcome back great to be here great to have you with us you know there's a there's a whole bunch of moving pieces to this in terms of of strategy yeah on the one hand you know the old saying you can't social security is the third rail you can't take it away

behind the idea behind obama care's medicaid expansion is really pretty simple states that except the expansion allow people earning as much as one hundred thirty three percent of the poverty line to enroll in medicaid in exchange the federal government pays one hundred percent of the cost of their health care for three years and ninety repeat ninety percent of that cost every year after that forever for struggling rural health care providers like or lower okotie hospital medicaid expansion means the difference between staying open and shutting down is the albany herald recently pointed out in the article about lower okon is closing medicaid expansion helps world hospitals by turning many of their uninsured patients into pain patients unfortunately georgia governor nathan deal and other peach state republicans have decided it's more important to sabotage president obama's signature achievement that is to help the people who put them into office thanks to their refusal to expand medicaid as many as fifteen other georgia hospitals may be shutting their doors in coming months but it's no

. >> that's medicaid expansion advocate dr. struggling with the question. >> federal highway system. >> okay,. >> immunizations. >> name one more. >> expanding medicaidance aha! -- >> aha!, not good. >> expanding access to quality health care is to the good. mammograms, colonoscopy, pap smear, not good. >> okay, okay, so even if this medicaid expansion could save people's lives -- >> we can't afford it, the congressional budget office looked at the cost of obamacare over ten years, and showed that it would reduce the federal deficit,. >> and you trust the congressional budget office to estimate the budget of congress? >> and he's not the only one who drank the cool aid n states that have rejected it the majority of citizens foolishly want the expansion. ashley landis explains. >> i understand that we are not delivering the most popular message here. but certainly low income families who are really struggling are going to be hard-pressed to understand all of the nuances. >> they're just so busy being needy they don't knows what'

with or without medicaid expansion. and so what happens is those hospitals take the hit without any corresponding offset. and even with the offset in most instances, they're still actually projected to lose more money than what the offset with the medicaid expansion covering the uncompensated care. well, the other day we had a couple of our colleagues on the other side have an epiphany, i suppose, about the potential harm to their hospitals in their states. and decried, i guess, the ramifications of the federal health care act on the reductions to the hospitals for medicare reimbursement as though, i mean, everybody's known this, i suppose, or should have known it for some period of time. i've been talking about it for over a year in arkansas. and so their solution, apparently, in a couple of instances was not to take medicaid expansion. but to give more state tax dollars to those hospitals. seems to me like their taxpayers then are paying twice. and that's one of our -- there are a lot of arguments that we utilize. we

>>> i'll talk to one of the representatives in arkansas who is trying to repeal the state's medicaid expansion. he also happens to be a medicaid beneficiary. >> i'm nervous. not going to lie about it. this is a big decision. >> he joins me next. [ julie ] i've got to credit my mom. to help me become an olympian, she was pretty much okay with me turning her home into an ice rink. ♪ she'd just reach for the bounty select-a-size. it's the smaller, powerful sheet that acts like a big sheet. look, one select-a-size sheet of bounty is 50% more absorbent than a full size sheet of the leading ordinary brand. use less, with the small but powerful picker-upper, bounty select-a-size. >>> this is what happened in washington, d.c. a few hours ago. >> if i can persuade, you know, sharpton and o'reilly to be in the same meeting, then it means there are people of good faith who want to get some stuff done. even if we don't agree on everything. >> what brought those two men into the white house today. ahead. you've tried to forget your hepatitis c. it's slow moving, you tell yourself. i have time. after all th

versus not to take medicaid expansion so i used to the oversimplified analogy. we are paying 18.5 cents a gallon or something in that area for federal gas tax that everybody in the country pays. the states get federal highway money back in some donor and joni states that we all get some degree of money back from the federal government and it would be like paying the federal gas tax and telling the federal government don't pay enough our money back for it our roads are fine and we don't need it. all of that and then some and albeit for the fact that it's arithmetic as clinton called it. it's arithmetic. it's not even math. [laughter] as a result of that different folks for different reasons and of course you have the basic altruistic reason that you will have people with health care coverage than ever had health care coverage before. i will also point out i was on the hospital board for 10 years and i had a real job in real life making real income. and we saw what uncompensated care does. there's a cost-shifting. hospitals can stay open if they continue to get 10

week. >> if you look at arkansas, we're kind of an island in the sea of states who rejected medicaid expansion, so i've got concerns about migration across the state lines and people that come here just for medicaid coverage. you know, i don't think we want to be a medicaid magnet. >> meanwhile, people's lives hang in the balance. and for a sense of how high the stakes are, look at this. a study from harvard and city university of new york found between 7,000 and 17,000 people are expected to die because states have decided not to expand medicaid. >> it would just be a nightmare. it would just be a -- i would feel like my government had absolutely turned their back on me. >> these are the very real hostages the arkansas tea party has taken. joining me now, david ramsey, associate editor at the "arkansas times." doing fantastic reporting on this. david, before we get to the back and forth and the drama in the chamber this week, the first question is, is this thing working? is there a reason people want to repeal it? are people getting health insurance? are they happy with it? >> yes, i mean, th

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versus not to take medicaid expansion. so -- i mean, that was an argument. i used the oversimplified analogy of the federal gas tax all the time that we're paying 18.5 cents a gallon, something in that area, for a federal gas tax that everybody in the country pays. your states get federal highway money back. some are donor states. some are donee states. we all get some money back from the federal government, and it would be like paying your federal gas tax and telling the federal government, don't send us any of our money backs. our taxpayers want to help pay for the roads in california because our roads are fine. we don't need any help. all of those arguments and then think obviate it's arithmetic as clinton called it. it's arithmetic, it's not even math. and as a result of that, different folks for different reasons -- of course you have the basic reason, you have people with health care coverage that never had health care coverage before. i also point out -- i was a -- chair of a hospital board for about 10 years when i

>>> i'll talk to one of the representatives in arkansas who is trying to repeal the state's medicaid expansion. he also happens to be a medicaid beneficiary. >> i'm nervous. not going to lie about it. this is a big decision. >> he joins me next. spokesperson: we decided to settle this. a steel cage death match of midsize sedans. the volkswagen passat against all comers. turbocharged engines against...engines. best in class rear legroom against other-class legroom. but then we realized. consumers already did that. twice. huh. maybe that's why nobody else showed up. how does one get out of a death cage? vo: hurry in and lease the 2014 passat for $189 a month. visit vwdealer.com today. >>> this is what happened in washington, d.c. a few hours ago. >> if i can persuade, you know, sharpton and o'reilly to be in the same meeting, then it means there are people of good faith who want to get some stuff done. even if we don't agree on everything. >> what brought those two men into the white house today. ahead. ♪ [ male announcer ] we don't just certify our pre-owned vehicles. we inspect, analyze, and r

. >> woodruff: plus, one state's alternative to medicaid expansion. an arkansas program that uses federal funds to buy private insurance for low-income residents >> the first thing i did was go to my general practitioner, and i walked in the room and she looked at me and she said, ok,

an estimated 100,000 low-income residents pop people who are part of the state's compromised medicaid expansionhich was specifically crafted for arkansas to please the state's republican lawmakers. last year, the feds let arkansas use federal medicaid dollars to buy private health insurance for its low-income residents. something that's been dubbed the private option. this move was a testimony in a lot of ways to the incredible solicitedness this white house has shown to get red state politicians to agree to federal funds for medicaid expansion. a democratic governor and republican legislator took the money and now 100,000 people are expected to have signed up for health care plans by next week. but now those 100,000 people taking advantage of the private option are at risk of losing it, when members of the arkansas general assembly convene on monday. that's because a supermajority must approve the federal money for next year which means just nine lawmakers in the senate or 26 in the house could block the appropriation and kill health care for 100,000 people. and if they succeed, then tens of t

before the medicaid expansion i had $600 million more to medicaid, almost 40% of that was to fill in federal government reneging on commitments they already made even before the medicaid expansion. that commitment is not going to be there and taxpayers across america will be on the hook. they will not be on the hook in wisconsin. >> governor walker, are you getting heat now for two local investigations in the state of wisconsin. first, when you were the milwaukee county executive, there are allegations, and in fact people have been convicted, for working on county time to help you and the lieutenant governor get elected. here is an anti-walker ad that is running right now in wisconsin. take a look. >> the investigation is getting closer to governor walker. >> what did the president know and when did he first know it? >> what did scott walker know and when did he know it? >> now, we should point out that they have brought charges against a number of people. they brought absolutely no charges against you, but the reason this is hot again is because thousands of e-mails were released th

public and firm stance that republican governors and legislatures have taken on the issue of medicaid expansionace of the fact according to polling 63% of that state favors expanding medicaid. how potent do you think this issue will be in the fall? >> it depends on what state you're in. a lot of people assume these republican governors and legislatures would fold their cards on this. a lot of hospitals want this to happen. it's a huge boon for their states. it was assumed they would put a lot of pressure on the politicians to make it happen. arkansas and new hampshire have created this hybrid system where they take the medicaid enrollment money and they allow people to purchase private health care with it. you have seen some holdouts. in south dakota, you've seen one of these republican opposition to medicaid expansion. a lot of people who watch us didn't expect it to go on this long. i wouldn't be surprised if it keeps ongoing. >> arkansas is allowing people to buy private insurance. is that a good idea? that arkansas plan is not exempt from politician. there is now -- conservative challengers

not participating in the medicaid expansion could cost perry's state $90 billion often years. >> whatpeople say governor perry dislikes washington, dislikes president obama so much he's willing to sacrifice the 1.5 million people that rely on this. >> if you want to have access to health care, let the states implement that. not the federal government. because we know what's going to happen. we're seeing study after study, cbo report after cbo report that the cost of this is going to be prohibitive. so if we put one size fits all obamacare as it's written into law today it's going to cost the states billions and billions of dollars out of their current budgets. so where do you want to take it from? do you want to take it from the education budget >> another option is raising taxes. that's not an option for perry. per person taxes are less in texas than in most states. something he says is a draw for business and key to job creation. texas has led the nation in job growth for the past four years. and perry wants the world to know it. >> if it hadn't been for texas the united states for

don't take it was conditional on a gun to the head in the words that you just don't take the medicaid expansion or you lose all your medicaid right right exactly so what's you know i disagree with chief justice roberts and you know so i mean i do too the whole lot probably should've been struck down but what you just did to my question of why is it that you'd want to take the insurance for the working poor that could cover say a million one point five million tax and better access to care and route if you're one hundred percent and you go to where it's only going to cover one point two million you're going to throw three hundred thousand people out of the cold so that stephen jay hemsley can make and can build in their house you know i assume that you have a pretty robust health insurance and would you not want someone to have access to the same sort of robust health insurance in the private market as you do that's in fact i know the reality in america as long as you're medicaid is on allow the minimum wage to be raised the reality in america is that you've got a lot of workers in this country

mainly because she was in a fight with the legislature over something else, the medicaid expansion. woman behind the bill brought it back again this year. it passed locally. but you have to see it locally. it really is all about getting around ordinances in phoenix, tucson and flagstaff, our largest cities. >> what is this about? you can put a sign up in a bar, this is a christian bar, no gays allowed? how far -- how do you -- what kind of law is this? how much presidential behavior would it countenance? >> the truth is we really don't know. >> what are we talking about here? >> well, let me give you a hypothetical. i bounced off a lawyer, he said this was correct. so here in arizona we have the sheriff of pinal county, next to phoenix is a republican. he is gay. if he went to a hotel with another male and tried to check into a room, that male may or may not be his partner, tried to check into a room, the owner or manager of that hotel with a religious objection could denied him and his partner or staffer service. >> and is that the law of arizona today that they can do that or do t

capitol, activists from the tea party were on the other side of the building rallying against medicaid expansion. rally organizer jesse granston says its very simple. >> every time we take a federal dollar that is attached to the affordable care act or to the medicaid rolls, were giving up our sovereignty, were giving up our ability to take care of ourselves. >> reporter: the federal government would have paid the states costs for medicaid expansion for the first three years and paid 90% after that. twenty six states so far have signed on. so far, south carolina, led by a republican governor and legislature, has stood firm in opposition. still, granston worries that lawmakers may ultimately find that kind of money difficult to refuse. >> we understand it's going to be a tremendous battle to win because when you have a state legislature that has been sucking at the federal teat for their entire life. it's the equivalent of taking away crack cocaine from someone who has been smoking it their entire life. >> reporter: while the political debate continues the current medicaid program has seen tremen

. >> woodruff: plus, one state's alternative to medicaid expansion. an arkansas program that uses federal funds to buy private insurance for low-income residents >> the first thing i did was go to my general practitioner, and i walked in the room and she looked at me and she said, ok, we have insurance now, where do you want to start? >> woodruff: those are just some of the stories we're covering on tonight's pbs newshour. >> major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: >> and by the alfred p. sloan foundation. supporting science, technology, and improved economic performance and financial literacy in the 21st century. >> and with the ongoing support of these institutions and foundations. and... >> this program was made possible by the corporation for public broadcasting. and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. >> ifill: charges and counter- charges flew back and forth today over the stalemate in the syrian peace talks. secretary of state john kerry accused the syrian government of stonewalling after nego

says we want to give you back that money in the form of health care for poor people medicaid medicaid expansion and it requires a three quarters majority of the legislature to say yes they couldn't get that three quarters majority on the other hand in arkansas it only requires a fifty one percent majority to secede from the union which they have done before isn't this weird now with a democrats when they decided that succession from the union they were just want to make sure parties and when they look in the signal there's been no flip we've been over there where there's been a flip and when they added that constitutional provision which political party did that i don't know. until the next part of that i know i know they tell you i know the super majority to raise taxes or to take federal money and oregon when i lived there was promoted by the republicans the republicans haven't dominated the oregon legislature in what. was an allegation it was a more valuable initiative i could only public i was there who are to it that the public knows it before that big fat care republicans came in and said

medicaid number he's saying that 7 million americans have access to health care because of medicaid expansionthat is not true. they had medicaid before obamacare. that is a repeatedly he keeps using the number. >> well, i think again i'm in the defending that usage. i think the president struggled in terms of messaging. i think the point is well taken. he's trying to get people to sign up before the deadline ends. >> they're trying to overstate the numbers. see how great it is? 10 million already in the water. got to go. >> thank you >> coming up next a dramatic twist. one day after this girl's family defied a court order to come on our show ask a state mrof show up at their family visit today. next. >> she's at her breaking point z we can't stand by anymore and allow this to happen. impact life expectancy in the u.s., real estate in hong kong, and the optics industry in germany? at t. rowe price, we understand the connections of a complex, global ecomy. it's just one reon over 75% of our mutual funds beat their 10-year lipper average. t. rowe price. invest with confidence. request a prospect

you are going to have the medicaid expansion and saudi were going to sign the bill. how's it going now? ." thee were all frustrated by rollout of the website and it was not acceptable. in the meantime, we have been working to make sure we could expand health care coverage through medicaid but then very quickly launch private insurance, something important for a bipartisan coalition in our state. we been looking forward to having that new health-care expansion and a new hampshire-specific model. the enrollment on the exchange, a federal partnership exchange, because they prohibited the state from setting up its own in the last legislature, the enrollment is going well and is going to meet or exceed projections. >> do you think obamacare will remain controversial or change as it takes effect? the rollout was unacceptable. what's important as we improve and get the mechanics to work better is to remember what the affordable care act is really doing for the people of my state and the country. we wanted to make sure people who never had coverage before habits of the peopl

you will have the medicaid expansion. i think you're going to sign that hill. the rollout of obamacare was full. how is it going? >> we were all frustrated. it was not acceptable. in the meantime, as you just talked about, we have been working new hampshire to make sure we could expand health care coverage through medicaid but then very quickly onto private insurance. a something that was important for a bipartisan coalition. we are looking forward to having that new health care expansion. exchangelments on our which is several partnerships prohibited the states from setting up its own. going very well. it is going to meet projections. >> do think it will be politically ocular or will it remain controversial? >> the rollout was frustrating. people are trying to understand how it affects them. what is important. as we improve it and as to get the mechanics of it to work after is to remember what the affordable care act is really doing for the oil of my state and the country. we want to make sure that people who've never been able to have coverage before have it.

over the long term, i think we are incredibly confident about where we're headed with medicaid expansion. you see every couple weeks news from another state that's taking a step forward towards expanding their medicaid programs. the low hanging fruit was the states that were always playing along and were always going to expand their medicaid program but we've seen new stories from places like utah and indiana where medicaid expansion might have seemed ungettable a few months ago and there's forward progress and momentum in that area and to reiterate we are confident that the person who's on this stage three three or four years will be looking at a landscape of where nearly all have expanded their medicaid program. the politics of medicaid expansion are interesting. it's one of those cases where doing the right thing lines up with the economic interests of hospitals and businesses and almost everybody else in the state stands to be in a better position when a state expands medicaid. this is an interesting issue and something to watch in the coming years. as we continue to look towards 201

the president is expected to lobby republican governors to support the medicaid expansion. right now, 19 states do not support expanding medicaid. those states, by the way, include texas and louisiana. we will keep an eye on these events and bring you the very latest from the white house as soon as the president starts speaking. on to other news. first, we have developing news, in fact, from the supreme court, which just over an hour ago declined to take up a key issue in the debate over gun rights. the court choosing not to answer the question for now of whether the right to bear arms extends to public places. now this move is a setback for gun rights advocates, including the nra, which was behind two high profile challenges to the state and federal gun laws. nbc justice correspondent pete williams joins us now. we know the court made a ruling in 2008 regarding the second amendment and guarantee to possess a gun at a home for self defense. obviously, this is very different. >> it is. it raises the question of what about outside the house? these two cases that the court decl

tell governor jindhal, accept the medicaid expansion and close the jindhal gap.ida, congressman joe garcia is running this ad in his re-election campaign. >> tea party billionaires think attack ads can cover the truth. joe garcia is working to fix obama care. he voted to let you keep your existing health plan and took the white house to task for the disastrous health care website. and joe garcia wants to hold the insurance companies accountable so they cannot deny coverage for pre-existing conditions or drop coverage when you get sick. attack ads can't change the truth. joe garcia is doing what's right for florida. house majority p.a.c.s responsible for the tent of this ad. >> there's a couple of different ways to take the affordable care act and run with it. mary landrieu really knows her state. look, this is sitting here, the federal government is giving us this and your governor won't let you have it. >> yeah. the thing you make unpopular is a benefit for someone else that seems to take away from you. but the thing that's popular is a benefit for you. so what'

but the figure comes from a medicaid expansion. was just talking about -- >> no, no, that is a dodge. in the medicaid number he is saying that 7 million americans have access to medicaid for the first time because of medicaid expansion. and the fact-checkers have said not true. many of those enrollees already had medicaid before obamacare, you can't credit the new law, repeatedly he keeps using the number. >> well, i think again i'm not defending that usage, i think the president has struggled over and over in terms of messaging. the sentiment is taken, he is trying to get people to sign up for this before the enrollment period ends, they say it is hovering around 4 million. >> they will just have another deadline extension. >> that is the thing, whether they're trying to overstate the numbers, see how great it is? ten million in the water. >>> coming up, a dramatic new twist, one day after this girl's family defied a court order to come on our show and suddenly a crowd of state workers and a state police officer show up at their f

in the state of virginia, republicans are embracing the medicaid expansion. w poll shows 55% of the state's republicans back the expansion as long as it is federal funded. what does this split say about the gop? >> i think that's right. a lot of these republicans who are advocating to strip these rights, to strip this coverage to people who are living in poverty, also claim to be god-fearing americans. i was raised by a born-again christian. being a christian means fixing yourself and helping others. not the other way around. i truly wonder what they imagine that conversation would be with their creator. >>> coming up, a reality check on the proposed keystone xl pipeline. later, a voesk -- next i'm taking your questions on ask ed live. we're right back. the new guy is loaded with protein! i'll believe it when i -- [ both ] oooooh... [ female announcer ] as you get older, protein is an important part of staying active and strong. ensure high protein... fifty percent of your daily value of protein. low fat and five grams of sugars. [ major nutrition ] ensure. nu

you will have the medicaid expansion. i think you're going to sign that hill.

refusing the medicaid expansion is literally a matter of life and death. but republicans won't do it because they want to score political points? i think we have very different ideas of morality. >>> joining me now are karen finny and dana millbank. thank you for being here. dana, calling it immorally to help those who are out of work, i mean, that is rough, isn't it? >> it is one of those accidents in washington when somebody accidently speaks the truth and reveals a great deal about the position on this. i think that the democrats in the senate are being quite smart in saying listen republicans we have done what you have asked. we are getting this thing paid for and making sure the benefits don't go to millionaires. they are putting in the language republicans in the past have supported enforcing them if they really want to do this to vote it down. i think the democrats in the house and senate should be talking about very little else until they get things done. not only is it politicly winning issue but happens to be a moral issue. >> karen, tomorrow's v