No Such Thing as “Free” ObamaCare Money, New FGA Research Shows
- BY FGA
Naples, FL —New research from the Foundation for Government Accountability (FGA) dispels common myths about the funding of ObamaCare’s Medicaid expansion, showing that the program does not “bring dollars home,” but rather that states already receive more federal funding than they send to Washington, DC.
The study also decimates the myth that states that decline Medicaid expansion are sending their money to other states. Instead, the study shows that there is no pot of ObamaCare expansion money that states are missing out on by failing to expand Medicaid and expansion states are alternatively causing more federal debt and putting state taxpayers on the hook for massive portions of ObamaCare’s out-of-control costs.
The paper further uncovers how, by rejecting ObamaCare’s Medicaid expansion, states can effectively control federal spending levels. FGA estimates that states can save taxpayers $620 billion in new spending over 10 years by rejecting ObamaCare’s Medicaid expansion. This is money that would otherwise be directly added to the national debt.
“ObamaCare supporters have misled states for years about how expansion is funded. This is not, nor has it ever been, ‘free’ money,” said Nic Horton, FGA research director and coauthor of the study. “There is no dedicated funding stream for expansion and every non-expansion state already receives more federal funding than they send to D.C. The bottom line is, if you expand Medicaid, you’re expanding the national debt. Period.”
Read the full paper here.
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The Foundation for Government Accountability is a non-profit, multi-state think tank that specializes in health care, welfare, and work reform. To learn more, visit TheFGA.org
