HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — A top aide to Gov. Tom Corbett said expanding Medicaid eligibility in Pennsylvania under a sweeping federal health care law probably would not take effect before January 2015, even if the governor embraces the idea that would provide taxpayer-paid health care insurance to hundreds of thousands of residents.

Beverly Mackereth, Corbett’s Department of Public Welfare chief, told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on Friday that the administration would need until 2015 to negotiate with the federal government and create the program.