States Try to Decipher Health Care

In the few days since President Obama’s health-care legislation was signed into law, states have been scrambling to figure out exactly what it means for them. And for many, it will mean an additional burden. Arizona, for instance, now has to find coverage for 350,000 children and adults they cut last week to deal with a budget deficit, while Louisiana may have to do away with its state-run charity hospital system. California, whose finances are already in dire straits, needs to find $500 million a year to pay for expanded Medicaid enrollment. “The federal government has to account for states’ inability to sustain our current programs, much less expand,” said Kim Belshé, secretary of California’s Health and Human Services Agency said. Other states like Massachusetts and Wisconsin have less to worry about—they already have extensive health-care measures in place. But overall, supporters say that states will end up in the black over the long run, thanks to a broad influx of cash for health care.