Morning Must-Read: Michael Hiltzik: When a State Blocks Obamacare, ERs Close: The Lesson of Louisiana

…Gov. Bobby Jindal has refused to expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act, and won’t put up any other money to keep the facility open. Because of the scheduled closure of the ER of Baton Rouge General Medical Center-Mid City, patients needing emergency treatment will have to travel as much as 30 minutes longer…. Jindal has tried to position himself as the last stalwart Republican opponent of the ACA, but his state’s experience shows that his position is folly…. In the expectation that Medicaid would pick up the slack, the ACA reduced so-called disproportionate share hospital payments, which went to hospitals serving a large number of the uninsured. So institutions in states that have refused to expand Medicaid, like Louisiana, have faced a double-whammy–they still have to serve a large number of uninsured patients, but they have less money to do so. The ACA has reduced uncompensated care costs… by $5.7 billion in fiscal 2014 compared with what they would have been otherwise…