Some States Seek To Split the Difference on Medicaid

They want to expand the program, but less than the feds require

A handful of states are considering only partially expanding their Medicaid programs under the federal health-care overhaul—a new twist on how states are interpreting the Supreme Court's ruling on the law.

Indiana, New Mexico and Wisconsin are among the states asking the federal government to let them omit from the Medicaid expansion residents whose incomes put them just above the poverty level. The states hope to take advantage of provisions in the Affordable Care Act that offer a federal subsidy to help these residents buy private insurance, starting in 2014.