In 2013, then-Indiana Gov. Mike Pence faced a policy and political quandary. Should the state take federal dollars to expand health insurance via Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act, aka Obamacare? Many Republican governors and legislatures rejected these funds, and their state’s health outcomes are poor.
Gov. Pence described it in political terms as the “gift of a baby elephant” from the federal government’s Affordable Care Act. “Where the government says, ‘Here’s a baby elephant. We’ll agree to pay for the hay for the next five years,’” Pence said. “Washington is broke, with more than $16 trillion in national debt.”
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