Politics & Government

Compromise Unlikely on Medicaid Expansion

The House and Senate are both scheduled to discuss the issue today.

It appears unlikely that Democrats and Republicans will reach a compromise on the expansion of Medicaid by Thursday's special legislative session.

According to the Associated Press, Gov. Maggie Hassan (D) and Senate President Chuck Morse (R) said Wednesday that they had been unable to reach common ground. The House and Senate are both scheduled to take up the issue on Thursday.

The New Hampshire Democratic Party spokesman Harrell Kirstein issued a statement Wednesday blaming Morse for the divide, while New Hampshire Republican State Committee Chairman Jennifer Horn pinned the blame on Hassan.

"Chuck Morse and his radical band of Tea Party sycophants in the state Senate should be utterly ashamed of themselves," Kirstein said. "They had a chance to make a positive difference in the lives of thousands of Granite Staters and instead they sided with radical fringe of the Republican Party opposing commonsense solutions to expanding access to health care. New Hampshire Republicans are following the extreme and irresponsible ideology of Ted Cruz, refusing to compromise, and opposing everything health care related no matter the pain their reckless schemes will cause real people."

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Horn, meanwhile, said that "Governor Hassan has nobody but herself to blame for the failed negotiations on expanding access to health care. Republicans offered a sensible plan to help low income families get private insurance, but the governor refused to compromise because of her rigid adherence to President Obama's liberal ideology and failed health care agenda... She has let down her constituents and proven that she would rather stand up for ObamaCare than get results for New Hampshire."

[Read the full AP story here.]

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