Burwell has faith remaining states will embrace Medicaid expansion

HHS Secretary Sylvia Mathews Burwell spoke to reporters last week about the Affordable Care Act’s 2016 open enrollment figures and the future of healthcare in the U.S.

According to coverage from Kaiser Health News, Burwell said one of her biggest priorities is getting the individual states to expand Medicaid despite concerns around both costs and the program’s effectiveness.

“One goal is encouraging states to accept the health law’s expansion of their Medicaid programs,” Kaiser Health News reported. “Burwell sees that much as a cowboy might in approaching his work: The terrain is a ‘very, very large ranch,’ she said. There are ‘a lot of places to go’ as she works out details for programs and waivers that could give governors flexibility. But there’s also a fence—the program’s statutory requirements—that give her only so much leeway.”

Burwell also said she has faith the remaining states will embrace Medicaid expansion.

“She predicted that economic factors, such as uncompensated care and rising rates of hospital closures in states that have not implemented the law’s Medicaid expansion, will eventually bring all states on board,” Kaiser Health news reported.

Kaiser Health News also cited a HMS figure that stated 4 million enrollees using healthcare.gov this year were enrolling for the first time.