By Hank Stephenson | Arizona Capitol Times
House Speaker Andy Tobin has steadfastly said there aren’t enough votes to pass Medicaid expansion through the House, although he seems to be the only one who still thinks that.
Most lawmakers, even ardent Medicaid expansion opponents, acknowledge there are enough votes to pass Medicaid expansion in the House, and that they have been there for several weeks.
But Tobin said there is still a single vote missing that makes all the difference: his.
“I think people are saying they can conceptually see it’s something they can support. But from a policy standpoint, I think people are expecting me to fill in those holes (in accountability). So the answer is without me, it doesn’t pass,” Tobin said.
He said he is working to add as much accountability into the Medicaid expansion proposal as possible. Specifically, he wants a tighter circuit breaker provision, allowing the state to drop the expanded population if the federal matching formula drops below 85 percent, as opposed to the governor’s plan, which calls for dropping out if the federal match falls below 80 percent.
Related: Former senators eying Medicaid referendum that could delay any expansion
