Despite urging from Democratic lawmakers as well as the Alaska Federation of Natives, the Alaska Chamber, and the Anchorage Chamber of Commerce, Alaska's Governor Parnell has decided against the expansion of Medicaid that would cover approximately 41,500 additional uninsured Alaskans.

Saying the Affordable Care Act is a “hot mess,” the Republican governor cited the failure and uncertainty of the Affordable Care Act as the reason for his decision not to seek expansion of the program for persons under 138% of the poverty line. Calling it Obamacare, Parnell said that the act “is failing to deliver on its promises and remains in disarray.”

Parnell said in a statement that the Medicaid program that covers approximately 140,000 people in the state is one of the state’s biggest and most costly government programs and with the expansion costs would skyrocket. Saying his decision has to “be about setting policy that helps the poor, without saddling future generations with the debt and risk.” Continuing, Parnell stated, “Attaching a costly Medicaid expansion to a flagging national health care program is like buying a high-priced ticket on a sinking ship.”

Parnell also announced the creation of an Alaska Medicaid Reform Advisory Group to address Medicaid’s structural issues and propose reforms to the State’s Medicaid program and also directed the commissioner of Health and Social Services to develop a report defining the current status of Alaska’s safety net for those non-Medicaid-eligible Alaskans up to 100 percent of the poverty line.

In response to the governor’s decision, Representative Andy Josephson said in a release, “Rejecting Medicaid is a mistake of truly epoch proportions,” said Josephson (D-Anchorage) who called on the governor to accept Medicaid during the last legislative session and again last month. “Simply put, the Governor has just taxed the majority of the Alaska people while he kicks the can down the road. His decision is bad for the health of Alaskans and for the health of our state economy.”

Representative Geran Tarr also spoke out against the governors decision, saying, “The Governor’s decision to deny health care coverage to over 40,000 Alaskans is unconscionable,” said Tarr (D-Anchorage) who serves on the House Health and Social Services Committee. “The governor’s kept Alaskans in limbo long enough. Alaskans health care needs will not go away in the next year. I join organizations like the Alaska State Chamber of Commerce, NAACP, Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium, and others in supporting Medicaid expansion and will work next session to find ways to make high quality health care available to all Alaskans.”

Under Parnell, the state earlier challenged the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act as well as refused to have the state set up an online marketplace which would have let Alaskans shop for private insurance.