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Even as states wrestle with whether to expand their Medicaid programs under Obamacare, theyre already grappling with the looming 2017 date when the federal government begins to cut its support, which will force states to have to make tricky budget decisions.

It was always part of the deal the federal government would pony up 100 percent of the cost of expanding Medicaid, but only for the first few years. In 2017, the federal share would drop to 95 percent, and slide to 90 percent in 2020. That 10 percent amounts to tens of millions of dollars even for small states, and runs much larger for big states.

Its not like we have $78 million sitting on the shelf, said Utah state Rep. Jim Dunnigan, a Republican whos skeptical of expansion in his state, where Gov. Gary Herbert is touting it as a way of extending insurance to 58,000 people in the coverage gap a situation in which people make too much for Medicaid but too little for tax credits on the Obamacare exchanges.

SEE ALSO: Obamacare enrollment on federal exchange reaches nearly 6.4M

PHOTOS: Republican governors push to expand Medicaid

Mr. Herbert and other Republican governors looking to expand are now trying to find innovative ways to offset the costs the states will eventually have to bear, in order to convince skeptical state legislatures.

Some governors envision imposing fees on hospitals that will benefit from the expansion, while others are eyeing cigarette taxes.

But in their push for expansion, the governors never mention Obamacare by name, even as they take advantage of dollars the law offers for states that agree to offer Medicaid coverage to those making up to 138 percent of the federal poverty level.

Certainly, leveraging the federal dollars plays a role, said Alexia Poe, spokeswoman for Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam, the latest Republican governor to unveil a GOP-friendly version of Medicaid expansion.

Mr. Haslam this month pitched his plan, Insure Tennessee, as a two-year pilot program. He said it wont tax Tennessees budget because hospitals have agreed to pick up any additional costs. The program will be terminated if commitments from the hospitals or federal government are not met.

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Republican governors push to expand Medicaid