Congressman asks Jindal to expand Louisiana Medicaid

A New Orleans congressman is asking Gov. Bobby Jindal to reconsider his position against expanding Louisiana's Medicaid program, as allowed under the federal health care overhaul.

Democratic U.S. Rep. Cedric Richmond sent the Republican governor a letter Monday saying as many as 400,000 Louisiana residents would be eligible to get insurance under the Medicaid expansion.

Richmond says low-income families wouldn't have a viable plan for getting coverage without the expansion, which covers adults up to 133 percent of the poverty level.

Jindal has described the program as too costly for Louisiana and the federal government, and he's called it an inappropriate expansion of government.

The federal government will cover the full costs of the Medicaid expansion from 2014 through 2016, and pick up most of the cost after that.