Last night, Jon Stewart tore into states controlled by Republicans that refuse to expand Medicaid under Obamacare, exposing them as "taker" states.



Obamacare was going to cover them ostensibly down to this income level.

So it was going to be like a little gap there, about the size of an iPad, except instead of an iPad, it's about 8 million people living just above the poverty line.

So to provide health insurance for this nation's, you know, that creamy center, the federal government was going to give the state governments money to expand their Medicaid program. For three years, the states would pay for this program — I think the number for this was... zero. Then after that, they would pay up to 10%, I think, by the time it was 2020. So what a great deal. But wouldn't you know it?



SCOTT PELLEY (10/2/2013): 26 states declined to go to that expense.

SCOTT PELLEY (10/2/2013): All of those states have Republican governors or legislatures that are controlled by Republicans.

Brought to you by Spite. Spite — the emotion that makes you turn down millions of dollars that would go towards health care for the working poor because you hate the President. And Arby's. Arby's — technically, it's food.

Now of course, I imagine that the states when asked why they didn't accept the Medicaid expansion don't probably list "spite" as the answer. So let's see what their reason is. You there, governor of the state in this nation that has the most uninsured children out of any other state.



GOV. RICK PERRY, R-TX (4/1/2013): Medicaid expansion is simply put a misguided and ultimately doomed attempt to mask the shortcomings of Obamacare. GOV. RICK PERRY, R-TX (7/9/2012): To expand this program is not unlike adding 1,000 people to the Titanic.

But hey, you know what? Everything's bigger in Texas. Especially tumors. What about you, Mississippi? You, Mississippi, or as you're also known, the 49th healthiest state in the union-issippi.



7/5/2013: REPORTER: Of all the states in the country that should be embracing some of the changes coming from Obamacare, your critics would say Mississippi should be at the front of the list. GOV. PHIL BRYANT, R-MS: Peter, the problem is it is the worst system of delivering health care known to man.

Listen, it's not perfect, a lot of things we'd like to change, but it is not the worst system of delivering health care known to man, as anybody knows who's been a patient at Enema Hut.

Enema Hut — cuz there ain't nothin' wrong with ya that can't be cured by some rectal irrigation.

Now you're probably thinking, Jon, this is so abstract, with these numbers. Can you show me what you're talking about, maybe with an example from the Show Me State, Missouri?



ELAINE QUIJANO (10/2/2013): 45-year-old Bertha McIntyre needs daily medication. ... She does not qualify for Medicaid in Missouri because her family income is too high, about $1,200 a month.

10/2/2013: ELAINE QUIJANO: Republican state Senator John Lamping argues Missouri faces tough choices. MISSOURI STATE SENATOR JOHN LAMPING, R: The entire cost of Medicaid in Missouri is one-third of Missouri's budget. ... We can barely afford to be in the Medicaid program as it exists today.

BERTHA McINTYRE (10/2/2013): Am I going to take food out of a child's stomach, or am I going to do without going to the doctor? Which would you choose?

And here's the best part. These governors and legislators who refuse to accept federal dollars to expand Medicaid for people like that nice lady? All but 3 of those 26 states they represent already take more money from the federal government than they contribute in tax dollars.

They are already burdens on the systems. I believe they're referred to by those Republicans as "moochers". Moocher states. And if statehood was health care, Mississippi and Missouri would be rejected as having that as a pre-existing condition.

So you may be thinking to yourself, well, so what are these uninsured people do for health care? Well, Republicans actually had that covered in the last presidential election. Not sure how that worked out.



MITT ROMNEY (9/23/2012): Well, we do provide care for people who don't have insurance. If someone has a heart attack, they don't sit in their apartment and die. We pick them up in an ambulance, and take them to the hospital, and give them care.

You can always go to the emergency room when you're having a heart attack. And apparently they think that's the fiscally responsible option, rather than expanding Medicaid. Because unlike Obamacare, we all know ER visits are free!! Just one little problem.

