What is a result when states do not expand Medicaid insurance through the Affordable Care Act?

What is the Medicaid coverage gap? In the states that have not expanded Medicaid, there’s a coverage gap that leaves about 2.2 million people ineligible for any sort of affordable coverage.

Why would a state choose not to participate in Medicaid expansion despite the federal promise of paying for the additional beneficiaries?

Budget costs: Expanding Medicaid through the private option or traditional Medicaid expansion will commit the state to massive, irreversible spending increases. Future Congresses are likely to reduce the federal matching rate a limit state options for provider taxes, etc., increasing the cost of any expansion.

How has Medicaid expansion affected states?

Medicaid expansion states have seen larger reductions in both uninsured rates and uncompensated care costs. From 2013 to 2017 those costs fell by 45 percent in expansion states, compared to only 2 percent in non-expansion states.

Is Medicaid expansion good or bad?

Better Health Outcomes, Including Fewer Premature Deaths Medicaid expansion saved the lives of at least 19,200 adults aged 55 to 64 between 2014 and 2017, a landmark study finds. Conversely, more than 15,600 older adults died prematurely because of state decisions not to expand Medicaid.

Is Medicaid expansion a good thing?

More Financial Security and Opportunities for Economic Mobility. Medicaid expansion has made it easier for people to afford needed health care, studies find — reducing medical debt, problems paying bills, and evictions.

What are the advantages of Medicaid expansion to providers?

Numerous studies have already documented how Medicaid expansion bolsters access to health care, increases affordability, and improves health for low-income populations, as well as reduces racial and ethnic disparities, strengthens rural health care providers, and helps state economies.

What happened to the Medicaid expansion?

The U.S. Supreme Court later ruled that the Medicaid expansion is voluntary with states. As a result, some states haven’t expanded their Medicaid programs. Adults in those states with incomes below 100\% of the federal poverty level, and who don’t qualify for Medicaid based on disability, age, or other factors, fall into a gap.

How many uninsured Americans in non-expansion states are eligible for Medicaid?

A smaller number (about 356,000) of uninsured adults in non-expansion states are already eligible for Medicaid under eligibility pathways in place before the ACA.

Why don’t more states expand Medicaid to people of color?

In addition, because several states that have not expanded Medicaid have large populations of people of color, state decisions not to expand their programs disproportionately affect people of color, particularly Black Americans.

Will the economic downturn bring new attention to Medicaid gaps?

The economic downturn and change in Administration are likely to bring renewed attention to gaps in Medicaid coverage in states that have not expanded eligibility under the Affordable Care Act (ACA).