LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — Arkansas Gov. Mike Beebe said Monday he'll decide before next year's legislative session whether to expand Medicaid under the federal health care overhaul that was upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court last week, but said he's inclined to move forward with the plan.

Beebe said he has questions about the impact and cost of widening the program's eligibility in Arkansas, and that he's asked state human services officials for answers about those concerns. The high court on Thursday upheld most of President Barack Obama's law, but the justices said the federal government could not take away states' existing federal Medicaid dollars if they refused to widen eligibility.

Beebe said he's leaning toward supporting the expansion, which state Human Services officials say will add about 250,000 people to the state's Medicaid rolls.

"It'd take a pretty dang strong argument for me to say no to those people when we have the opportunity to pay for it with taxes that are coming from and money coming from the federal government that the whole United States is paying for anyway," Beebe told reporters at a news conference at the state Capitol. "I don't want to send it to Massachusetts or California and ignore our own people."

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Health Care Reform