Christie delays decisions on health-care law
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said he is still deciding whether his state will implement two provisions of the national health-care law championed by President Barack Obama.
Christie said plans to make up his mind on authorizing state-run exchanges where people can buy health insurance and an expansion of Medicaid by the beginning of 2013. But his wait-and-see approach already separates him from some other prominent Republican governors, including Rick Perry of Texas and Rick Scott of Florida, who have already declared their intention to turn down new federal funds that would help insure more people under Medicaid.
Governors gained the flexibility late last month when the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a provision in the health-care law that would have stripped states of all their federal Medicaid funding if they didn’t agree to the expansion. Instead, the court ruled that the federal government could only deny states new funding. (Grossman, The Wall Street Journal)