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Delaware Pushes Forward With Medicaid Expansion Despite High Court Decision

DOVER, Del. (AP) — Delaware officials are moving ahead with plans to expand eligibility for Medicaid to residents living at 133 percent of the federal poverty level.

The U.S. Supreme Court said Thursday that states can't be forced to expand Medicaid eligibility under the national health care reform law. But officials believe a Medicaid expansion in Delaware makes sense because it would bring a higher percentage of federal matching funds.

Delaware now gets a 54 percent federal Medicaid match, which would increase to 75 percent for some 39,000 people added to the program in 1996 when the state expanded eligibility to 100 percent of the poverty level.

Officials also estimate that expanding eligibility to 133 percent of the poverty level would extend Medicaid coverage to up to 30,000 of the state's 106,000 uninsured residents.

Don Rush is the News Director at Delmarva Public Media. An award-winning journalist, Don reports major local issues of the day, from sea level rise, to urban development, to the changing demographics of Delmarva.