States to spend $46 billion on Medicaid, CHIP, CBO says

States will spend $46 billion between 2015 and 2024 on Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Programs because of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, the Congressional Budget Office now estimates.

The new figure is approximately one-third less than its $70 billion February estimate.

The CBO did not provide an expla- nation for the new estimate .

Regardless of how the federal agency arrived at the figure, however, it is unlikely to sway anti-Obamacare Republican governors to expand Medicaid in their states, political observers said.

The politics of Obamacare will trump any discussion of lower cost estimates.

Currently, 24 states have not expanded Medicaid eligibility.