Walker's Case Against Medicaid Expansion Collapses
8/19/2014
By Bill Kaplan
Gov. Walker has been out of step with eight other GOP govs. who have expanded Medicaid in Arizona, Iowa, Michigan, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Dakota and Ohio (GOP-led Indiana, Pennsylvania and Utah continue to negotiate this with the Obama administration). Walker's contrived and spurious arguments against Medicaid expansion - "this federal government is likely to renege from its promises on Medicaid to the states" and Wisconsin "does not have a coverage gap" - completely collapsed after two political earthquakes struck Wisconsin last week.
Nationally, 7.2 million additional Americans have now been covered by Medicaid expansion (with 100 percent federal funding for three years, declining to 90 percent thereafter). However, Gov. Walker's ideological and self-serving approach has been a costly charade. A Robert Wood Johnson funded report from the widely respected Urban Institute (Washington, D.C.) laid out the consequences of Walker's rejecting Medicaid expansion 2013 -- 2022:
- Wisconsin will lose $12.3 billion in federal Medicaid spending;
- Wisconsin hospitals will lose $3.7 billion in reimbursement.
Moreover, the Urban Institute said: "Future federal cuts to ACA's (Affordable Care Act) high federal match rate are unlikely. Of more than 100 federal Medicaid cuts since 1980, just one (1981) lowered the federal share of Medicaid spending." There's more.
The nonpartisan Wisconsin Legislative Fiscal Bureau delivered the final coup de grace to Walker's shenanigans. The Legislative Fiscal Bureau specified the advantages of Medicaid expansion:
- Wisconsin would save $206 million 2013 -- 2015 (73 percent higher than a previous estimate) and another $261 million to $315 million 2015 -- 2017;
- Wisconsin would be able to cover another 120,000 people by 2016 with fewer out-of-pocket costs.
more...
http://www.wisopinion.com/index.iml?mdl=article.mdl&article=56621
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