LANSING (WKZO) -- Governor Rick Snyder is expected to ask the Legislature to open Medicaid to as many as a half-million more residents.

The governor is expected to make the recommendation during his budget presentation on Thursday.  Under the 2010 Affordable Care Act, the federal government has promised to pay all costs for three years for residents added to the federal health insurance program.

The long-term addition of roughly a half-million more Medicaid recipients would result in an additional 1.5-billion to two-billion dollars a year in federal health spending in Michigan.