Comment on Medicaid enrollment surges, stirs worry about state budgets

Medicaid enrollment surges, stirs worry about state budgets

ATLANTA (AP) — More than a dozen states that opted to expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act have seen enrollments surge way beyond projections, raising concerns that the added costs will strain their budgets when federal aid is scaled back starting in two years. Some lawmakers warn the price of expanding the health care program for poor and lower-income Americans could mean less money available for other state services, including education. [...] supporters downplay the budget concerns, pointing to studies that indicate the economic benefits of expanding health care will result in significant savings over time. McDaniel said the added Medicaid costs will reduce the pool of money that can be invested in higher education, pension plans or other services. Beshear, a Democrat, released a study earlier this year touting the creation of 12,000 jobs and nearly $1.2 billion in new revenue to health care providers as a result of expansion. In the expansion states, enrollment for Medicaid and a related program for children have increased an overall 28.2 percent compared with a three-month period before the law's implementation, according to the federal government. At least 14 states have seen new enrollments exceed their original projections, causing at least seven to increase their cost estimates for 2017, according to an Associated Press analysis of state budget projections, Medicaid enrollments and cost details in the expansion states. Some states that expanded their Medicaid programs prior to the federal health care law are also seeing enrollment increases based on people signing up because of increased publicity and outreach efforts. Supporters of expanding Medicaid say states will eventually save money by doing away with some of their own services for the uninsured, such as mental and behavioral health programs, and by reducing payments to hospitals and other providers for treatment of the uninsured. Kentucky saved $9 million in 2014 as enrollees in behavioral and mental health programs were fully covered by Medicaid, according to a report by the State Health Reform Assistance Network, a program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

 

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