A new report says Idaho will lose $3.3 billion in federal
Medicaid funds, and $1.5 billion for hospital reimbursement, over
roughly the next decade by not expanding its Medicaid program to all
poor adults.
The report from the Urban Institute and the Robert
Wood Johnson Foundation, released Thursday, says Idaho's savings and new
state revenues from a Medicaid expansion would the cost of implementing
an expansion. Hospitals also would get reimbursed for newly eligible
Medicaid patients who now lack insurance.
"The impact of not
expanding Medicaid has broader implications than just the number of
people who gain insurance. It significantly impacts state economies and
hospital budgets," said Kathy Hempstead, director of the Robert Wood
Johnson Foundation, whose goals include 95 percent of Americans being
covered by health insurance. "States are literally leaving billions of
dollars on the table that would support their hospitals and stimulate
the rest of their economies."
States were required under the 2010
Affordable Care Act to expand their Medicaid programs to include anyone
living in poverty — not just poor children, poor pregnant and new
mothers and adults with disabilities, as is the case in Idaho. However,
the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that states don't have to comply with that
part of the law. The Idaho Legislature and Gov. Butch Otter have opted
not to expand Idaho's Medicaid program.
States that expand
Medicaid will have at least 90 percent of their new Medicaid costs
covered by the federal government, under the law. Idaho lawmakers have
voiced concerns about that federal-match rate being cut, leaving Idaho
responsible for medical costs of significantly more people — a concern
the new report addresses.
"Even if future lawmakers reduce federal
Medicaid spending, high federal matching rates are likely to remain at
the ACA's enhanced rates, given historic patterns," the report says.
Twenty-four
states have not expanded their Medicaid programs so far. About 6.7
million people will go without health insurance in 2016 as a result,
says the report.
"These states are foregoing $423.6 billion in
federal Medicaid funds from 2013 to 2022, which will lessen economic
activity and job growth," it says.
source
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