On Tuesday night, the citizens of the state of Maine voted by a wide margin to expand Medicaid coverage in the state. This vote could have repercussions in states like Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas that have refused to expand Medicaid.
As NBC News notes, Democrats “are hopeful their victories are a harbinger of further gains . . . with more ballot initiatives [and] legislative efforts to come.” Maine has tried in the past to expand Medicaid through legislative means, but the state’s Republican Governor Paul LePage vetoed five separate attempts to do so.
Once the matter was put before voters, the yes votes beat out the no votes by an 18-point margin.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott, Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin, and Kansas Governor Sam Brownback have repeatedly rejected Medicaid expansion for their states. Is it possible that Maine has started a trend of letting voters decide for themselves?
