Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) announced on Wednesday that he will not join the federal Medicaid expansion under Obamacare, the Associated Press reports.
The federal health care law offers states federal money for Medicaid in an effort to insure up to 17 million people nationwide. The expansion would apply to those who earn up to 133 percent of the federal poverty level, or $15,282 this year. But the Supreme Court ruled last year that states could opt out of that plan.
Walker becomes the 14th Republican governor to turn down federal money to expand Medicaid in their states. According to the AP, Walker said Wednesday that he still aims to halve the share of uninsured non-elderly adults in Wisconsin.
"I want to have fewer people in the state who are uninsured," Walker said, according to the Wisconsin State Journal. "And I want to have fewer people in this state who are dependent on government."
Walker put forth his own health care proposal that would make fewer people eligible for Medicaid and instead force more people to buy private health insurance, according to the AP.
Pennsylvania, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas have also rejected the federal Medicaid expansion. Six Republican governors, including the those in Michigan, Arizona and Ohio, have said they plan to sign on.
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