Congress has been back in legislative session for just two days since its summer break, and the Syrian imbroglio is all-consuming and taking up all the oxygen in both legislative chambers.
But back in the states — out in the real world — Obamacare implementation is the issue at hand, and state lawmakers, health care activists and partisans on both sides are wrangling about the fact states late to implement will miss out on the federal largesse.
With the federal government picking up the full tab to extend Medicaid coverage to hundreds of thousands low income Americans through 2016, a variety of powerful special interests are angling to muscle-through Obamacare.
Leaving federal money on the table — even in this day and age — is unappealing to many state GOP lawmakers with their own budgetary problems.
The most likely outcome is that the vast majority of wavering and undecided states will eventually take the plunge with Obamacare’s Medicaid expansion.
Why? Simple. The coalition of supporters is so strong.
Business groups, hospitals, state medical organizations, public health advocates, the media-at-large, and pro-Obama activists still mobilized from the 2012 campaign are a formidable coalition.
In the end, this coalition will simply wear down Obamacare opponents.
That’s not a good outcome, but you can bet on it.