Hospitals Lobby Hard for Medicaid Expansion

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Hospitals Lobby Hard for Medicaid Expansion

By Michael Ollove, Staff Writer

With billions of dollars at stake, hospitals are lobbying hard for Medicaid expansion in Columbus, Tallahassee and other state capitals where state legislators oppose the extension of the program to some 17 million Americans.

Hospital associations have paid for television and newspaper ads, organized rallies, and choreographed legislative testimony in support of the Medicaid expansion, which is part of the Affordable Care Act. They also have united disparate groups which are used to being on opposite sides of legislative debates. In Columbus, for example, Ohio Right to Life and Planned Parenthood Advocates of Ohio are working side-by-side to persuade state lawmakers to approve the expansion. Both groups say they want to make health insurance available to the poor.

In making their case, the hospitals tout the economic benefits that an influx of federal money will bring to the states. The federal government will cover 100 percent of the cost of the expansion for the first three years, gradually tapering off to 90 percent in 2020. And they point to the public health dividends that will come from providing health care to people who can’t afford it now.

But the hospitals also acknowledge that the expansion is vital for their own financial health. “For many hospitals it’s existential; it’s really talking about the future viability of their institutions,” said Shawn Gremminger of the National Public Hospital Association.

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http://www.pewstates.org/projects/stateline/headlines/hospitals-lobby-hard-for-medicaid-expansion-85899469003

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