Thirteen states have resisted the calls by special interests
to expand Medicaid. They are the few, the brave, and the forward-thinking.
Simply stated, Medicaid expansion has been a disaster in
every state that has attempted it. Despite this objective fact, every time
another state considers expanding, the same lies are repeated—they’ll save
money, more people will have access to health resources, and it’ll only add a
small amount of new people to the state program. And every time, it’s a shock
that those promises don’t come true.
Add a global pandemic into the mix, and states considering
expansion are rushing to push their welfare programs over the cliff.
Here’s what really happens when you expand Medicaid:
Enrollment explodes
Expansion states have enrolled more than twice as many
able-bodied adults than they expected to ever enroll. There are nearly 13
million men and women who were previously ineligible now on Medicaid. It isn’t
an isolated incident—on average, expansion states have enrolled 110 percent
more adults than expected.
Costs skyrocket
With a flood of now-eligible able-bodied adults in the
system, costs run over just as quickly. Per-person costs have exceeded
projections in expansion states by 76 percent, with taxpayers spending 157
percent more than state officials across the board promised. If the 13 holdout
states decide to expand, that adds another $600 billion to the bill.
Hospitals close
Thanks to financial shortfalls from Medicaid expansion to
able-bodied, working age adults, there has been a significant decrease in
hospital bed capacity and the number of open hospitals. One of the big promises
pro-expansion advocates make is that it will be a cure-all for struggling
hospitals. Instead, it’s pushing hospitals to the brink. Hospitals in Medicaid
Expansion states face greater Medicaid-linked financial shortfalls and have
worse capacity for care. Medicaid expansion is self-destructive in normal
times, but during COVID-19, it’s unthinkable.
Private insurance is
crowded out
Of the able-bodied adults who are eligible for Medicaid
under expansion, more than half already have private insurance. And still more
are eligible for highly subsidized insurance on the exchange. Expansion crowds
out private insurance, moving massive numbers of people from private coverage
to Medicaid. This creates unnecessarily high costs for taxpayers.
Safety nets are destroyed
Nationwide there are more than 800,000 truly needy
individuals trapped on Medicaid waiting lists, and nearly 22,000 have died
while waiting for care since Medicaid expansion began under the Obama
administration. Every dollar spent on able-bodied adults is a dollar that’s
diverted away from the men, women, and children the program was intended to
help. With every new stat expansion comes a new wave of able-bodied adults
taking resources away from the truly needy.
