Medicaid incentive so far not enough to sway holdout states

FILE - Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves delivers his State of the State speech on Tuesday, Jan. 26, 2021, in Jackson, Miss. Congress just sweetened the incentives for states to extend Medicaid insurance coverage to more low-income adults, but the dozen Republican-controlled states that have spent years resisting expanding the programs have no plans to change course now. Gov. Reeves says he's not going for it, noting that his stance was a major issue in his 2019 campaign. His GOP primary opponents supported a plan to expand, with the state's share being paid for by hospitals and a fee of up to $20 a month for people who signed up. He opposed it, even as the Mississippi Hospital Association said it could bring up to 19,000 jobs to the state. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis, file)

FILE - South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster talks about vaccine distribution and abortion during a news conference on Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2021, in Columbia, S.C. Congress just sweetened the incentives for states to extend Medicaid insurance coverage to more low-income adults, but the dozen Republican-controlled states that have spent years resisting expanding the programs have no plans to change course now. “Gov. McMaster isn’t for sale, regardless of whatever ill-conceived ‘incentives’ congressional democrats may come up with,” spokesman Brian Symmes said in a statement. “What the federal spending plan does is attempt to offer a short term solution for a long term problem.” (AP Photo/Jeffrey Collins, file)