According to the Chicago Tribune, Wisconsin Rep. Paul Ryan, chairman of the U.S. House Budget Committee and 2012 Republican vice-presidential nominee, told the newspaper’s editorial board that states should not count on those increased federal Medicaid match-rates promised by Obamacare to lure states into expanding this program. Moreover, given federal budget realities, the promises are likely to be broken no matter which party is in charge.

Here’s part of what Ryan told the editors:

The fastest thing that’s going to go when we’re cutting spending in Washington is a 100 or 90 percent match rate for Medicaid. There’s no way. It doesn’t matter if Republicans are running Congress or Democrats are running Congress. There’s no way we’re going to keep those match rates like that.

This is not the first such warning from federal lawmakers. See “Trust not in Obamacare Medicaid Promises” posted here on April 9.

What does this mean? Simply that it’s highly likely that if Michigan legislators go along with the Obamacare Medicaid expansion — a decision they will make as part of a budget process slated to be finished by late June — starting in 2020 or even sooner, taxpayers here may find themselves on the hook for big tax hikes, or alternatively, will find Medicaid “crowding out” state spending in other areas lawmakers think are important, like schools, roads and public safety, to name three.

Hat-tip to Michael Cannon.

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