States that have expanded their Medicaid programs under ObamaCare have witnessed skyrocketing enrollment and massive cost overruns. States have signed up more than twice as many able-bodied adults as initially projected. In many cases, more able-bodied adults signed up for the programs than state officials predicted would ever even be eligible. Worse yet, the per-person price tag has been nearly twice as high as projected, compounding the cost overruns even further.
Much of the higher-than-expected enrollment has been driven by individuals who already had private insurance or would otherwise qualify for it. If the remaining nonexpansion states expanded Medicaid under ObamaCare, more than two million able-bodied adults would be shifted out of private coverage and onto Medicaid.
Expanding Medicaid in additional states would crowd millions of able-bodied adults out of private insurance coverage and shift them into taxpayer-funded Medicaid. In fact, most of these adults have private coverage already. Ultimately, ObamaCare’s Medicaid expansion means taking resources away from the truly needy to fund a welfare expansion for those who already have private coverage.
