Governor Nathan Deal is remaining firm that Georgia will not expand its Medicaid program despite the announcement by two more Republicans governors says that their states will do so.

Ohio Gov. John Kasich and Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder have both said this month they will take advantage of federal funding to ensure health coverage for their uninsured citizens. That means six GOP governors will move forward with expansion.

“I think is a discussion that is obviously been ongoing with Republican governors over a period of several months now, and it appears that some are changing their minds now from what their original position had been,” he tells WSB’s Sandra Parrish.

Deal says it’s up to each state to decide whether it can afford to expand its Medicaid program.

“Every state obviously has the same obligations to fund their share of any expanded Medicaid program and the costs associated with it and that was the basis on which I made my decision,” he says.

Deal says it would cost the state $4.5 billion over ten years to expand the program to cover an additional 600,000 uninsured Georgians.