MAP: How Much 24 States Lost by Refusing to Expand Medicaid
About half the states have not expanded Medicaid, which means they didn’t make it available to all low-income people as the Affordable Care Act’s architects originally intended. And the human cost of these decisions has been obvious for some while. People who desperately need insurance aren’t getting it. They’re more likely to experience financial hardship and, if the latest research is correct, they’re more likely to die.
Conservatives state officials and their supporters frequently justify the decisions by arguing that they are simply looking after their states’ finances. Even with the federal government picking up most of the cost, they say, states must put up some money of their own—and the states don’t have the money to spare.
A new report from researchers at the Urban Institute, and supported by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, shows just how shortsighted that decision is. Yes, states have to spend money to expand Medicaid. But they get much, more back from the federal government. That money ends up flowing to medical professionals, hospitals, and other parts of the health care sector.
More: MAP: How Much 24 States Lost by Refusing to Expand Medicaid