Report: FL Medicaid Expansion Burden Reassessed
Monday, April 12, 2010
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - The Florida House is set to vote on a bill that could bolster Attorney General Bill McCollum's efforts to stop health care reform in Florida. It's a move that comes amid a new round of number-crunching on reform-related Medicaid expansion costs that shows the price would be about half of that claimed by the attorney general (AG).
The AG's estimate was based on data from the state Agency for Healthcare Administration. Laura Goodhue, executive director of Florida CHAIN, says her group's review shows the AG's numbers were inflated by including coverage for undocumented immigrants, who are not eligible. She points out that under health care reform, more than one million Floridians will gain coverage, and the state will receive billions in federal matching funds.
"They should be focusing on the benefits that we're getting and that all these uninsured Floridians will now get coverage. It seems like that should be something the state would be embracing and trying to figure out how to implement instead of filing a lawsuit and spending taxpayers dollars fighting against it."
Goodhue says estimated costs should be based on state experience.
"The assumption that every single eligible Medicaid person would enroll has been historically not true. And they didn't take into account the savings from having people now be covered instead of paying hospitals for their uncompensated care."
She adds that higher per-patient costs and a lower federal match than that approved by Congress also skewed the numbers.
The full report is available at www.floridachain.org.
get more stories like this via email
Social Issues
Mississippi prisons often lack resources to treat people who are incarcerated with substance-use disorders adequately but a nonprofit organization is …
Social Issues
April is Second Chance Month and many Nebraskans are celebrating passage of a bipartisan voting rights restoration bill and its focus on second chance…
Social Issues
The future of Senate Bill 4 is still tangled in court challenges. It's the Texas law that would allow police to arrest people for illegally crossing …
Social Issues
Wisconsin lawmakers recently debated reforms for payday loans. Efforts to protect consumers come amid new research about financial pain associated …
Social Issues
A case before the U.S. Supreme Court could have implications for the country's growing labor movement. Justices will hear oral arguments in Starbucks …
Social Issues
The U.S. House has approved a measure to expand the Child Tax Credit. It would help 16 million children from low-income families in Indiana and …