If the 19 states that have not expanded Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act did so next year, the uninsured rate in the United States would drop by roughly a quarter and federal spending on health care would rise by at least $32.1 billion, according to a report this week by the Urban Institute and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
The new analysis says that 4.3 million to 4.7 million fewer people would be uninsured if Medicaid were expanded in every state. Expansion in every state would increase federal spending by between $32.1 billion and $37.8 billion, depending on new enrollment.
State spending, meanwhile, would climb by $2.3 billion to $3 billion, though the report notes that the additional spending “would fully or largely be offset by savings in other areas.”
Another new report released by the Kaiser Family Foundation Wednesday found that Medicaid expansion was generally a positive for states that adopted it:
"States that have expanded Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act generally have seen gains in coverage, improvements in access to and affordability of health care, and net fiscal benefits, a growing body of research and data show.
At the same time, Medicaid expansion has not diverted coverage from traditional groups or significantly reduced state spending on other programs, the research shows, contrary to assertions by some critics of Medicaid expansion."
