Medicaid expansion and the ACA: a question

[BelgianMadCow]

What I understand from reading DU, is that people who happen to live in a state with an obstructionist Governor or Legislature who has decided (allowed by the Supreme Court) not to expand medicaid, can fall into a "donut hole". Some of them make too much to qualify for medicaid, but not enough to be able to get a subsidy via the ACA.

My question is, wouldn't it be a good idea for Obama & the Dems to propose lowering the subsidy threshold under the ACA in these states? Because if Jon Stewart is right, about 8 million people are concerned. From what I understand, medicaid expansion is paid for by the federal government at the beginning, and later the cost is borne by the states, so lowering the ACA subsidy threshold would be an extra cost to the federal govt, but it looks worth it, until the people in these states can vote out said obstructionists

[DireStrike]

1. It'd never pass the house. Also, don't all states increase medicaid in 2014 per ACA?

I'm not clear on this.

[PoliticAverse]

4. The expand or lose your current Medicaid funding part of the ACA was foujnd to be unconstititional

so states have the option of not participating in the expanded Medicaid (22 states currently aren't participating,
see http://www.advisory.com/Daily-Briefing/Resources/Primers/MedicaidMap ).

[whttevrr]

2. Sounds reasonable...

Therefore it will be vehemently opposed by the GOP.

Isn't there a trillion dollar plane that we could defund that could help us out of this budget fiasco?

[BelgianMadCow]

3. Trillion dollar plane?

Maybe not literally, but stopping the Joint Strike Fighter will surely do the trick. It's rather obvious the US could be a radically different and better country to live in if the spending priorities weren't so insane. Defense budget + corporate tax breaks = insanity.

Not much better here, either. Belgian minister of defense Pieter De Crem wants us to shell out billions for the JSF. He has ambitions towards NATO head, you see. But in these austere times, it looks like everybody else is gonna say no way to that.

[PoliticAverse]

5. Since the ACA originally passed Republicans gained seats in the Senate and control the House

so this is unlikely to pass (the ACA originally passed without a single Republican vote and not a single
vote to spare in the Senate).