Health Care Obstructionism

States reasons for obstructing or opposing Federal health care reform vary, however, the majority of the time it is based on ideological grounds, typically associated with the Republican party. For example, certain Republican governor’s decisions to refuse Medicaid expansion, are based in the belief that provisions specifically for the poor, like welfare and Medicaid, promote government dependence over self-reliance. As mentioned above, some Republican governors have also refused Medicaid expansion to reduce federal intrusion into their states, protecting the “deeply held American value emphasizing limited federal power over citizens and states”. With that being said, many acts of obstructionism are simply attempts to regain lost political footing. According to Jost, “their true purpose is to topple the ACA by kicking out a leg or two of the market reform stool. One sympathizer, for instance, writes that these challenges are meant to “chop[] down [the ACA], limb by limb” and that market collapse “would accelerate a return to the political bargaining table”.
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In many ways, States obstructionism is only depriving their hospitals of much-needed support and denying their local economies a much needed economic boost, and the result is citizens will “pay a high price for political decisions based not on the best interests of the states but rather on ideology and pique”. All because “some state leaders are willing to sacrifice health and jobs and economic security in order to bring down Obamacare”. There have been several periods of intense polarization throughout U.S. history, however, the current situation ranks towards the top of any list compiled on the