The vice president on Monday said he wants to help states “get the best value” for their health care spending, even though he’s concerned about the Affordable Care Act’s expansion of Medicaid.
“We need to make sure states are making smart decisions about what they spend their money on,” Biden said during an interview on MSNBC.
“The ACA expanded Medicaid, and states are now making decisions about how they spend that money.
That’s one of the things that I’m concerned about.”
While some Republican governors, including New York Gov.
Andrew Cuomo, have been encouraging states to expand Medicaid to more low-income residents, Biden said it is time to get a “fair shake.”
“You can make a great case that it’s time to do something else.
But it’s not time to abandon the ACA, and that’s what we’re going to do,” Biden continued.
“We’re going, I think, to make some very big changes, and we’re not going to abandon that.
That is the way we’re moving forward.”
Biden is the third vice president in as many years to talk about health care during his presidency.
In August, President Donald Trump said the federal government should provide more financial assistance to states for health care expansion and suggested that if the GOP won the White House in 2020, they could expand Medicaid.
