AZ Gov Jan Brewer signs Medicaid expansion

(Reuters) - Arizona's Republican Governor Jan Brewer signed a law on Monday to expand Medicaid, embracing a key part of Democratic President Barack Obama's healthcare plan in a hard-won policy victory over conservatives in her own party. Brewer, a feisty opponent of the Obama administration over immigration enforcement, signed a bill that will make about 300,000 additional poor and disabled residents eligible for the Medicaid program, a move opposed by some conservative Republican lawmakers. With the signing, Arizona became the 24th state to move ahead with the expansion, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation, a California-based nonprofit that tracks the issue.