War on the Poor: GOP-Controlled States Refusing to Expand Medicaid Will Lose Over $8 Billion Annually

War on the Poor: GOP-Controlled States Refusing to Expand Medicaid Will Lose Over $8 Billion Annually

by AATTP

In an ironic footnote to the GOP’s bravado of opposing Obamacare, a new study shows that refusing to expand Medicaid will cost billions of dollars in federal aid.

When the Supreme Court upheld the ACA in 2012, it was under the condition that states wouldn’t be forced to expand Medicaid -- sending a significant setback to millions of low-income Americans and the Obama Administration. But according to the study, that symbolic victory will come at a heavy price for states that don’t participate.

According to the Rand Corporation:

If 14 states decide not to expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act as intended by their governors, those state governments collectively will spend $1 billion more on uncompensated care in 2016 than they would if Medicaid is expanded.

In addition, those 14 state governments would forego $8.4 billion annually in federal payments and an additional 3.6 million people will be left uninsured, according to findings published in the June edition of the journal Health Affairs.

The study goes on to affirm that expanding Medicaid will overwhelmingly benefit low-income people, with states who refuse the expansion to pay a price of $18 billion annually.

Researchers estimate that increased insurance coverage triggered by health reform will reduce state and local spending on uncompensated medical care by as much as $18.1 billion annually across all states. Those savings may continue beyond 2020, when the states' share of Medicaid costs plateaus.

The study raises a disturbing question: Are GOP politicians willing to sacrifice billions of dollars in federal aid just to cater to an extremist Tea Party ideology?

AATTP