Medicaid expansion

Medicaid Expansion The Affordable Care Act is expanding and has many implications on Americans of all ages. Here are some of the implications regarding Medicaid. As part of the Affordable Care Act, the largest expansion of Medicaid is set to take place since the beginning of the program when it was implemented as part of President Lyndon B. Johnson’s program the “Great Society.” This expansion of Medicaid is designed to cover millions of more individuals and provide affordable health insurance for those who are considered among the poorest in the country.

This expansion of Medicaid is contingent upon the participation of the state. As part of the Supreme Court of the United States of America’s ruling on the Affordable Care Act, the court found that requiring the states to fund the Medicaid expansion in tandem with the federally expanded funding, was unconstitutional. However, the Supreme Court did uphold the law and did not strike this portion or all of the law down because they allowed it to be an opt-in / opt-out situation. States would be allowed to choose to participate in the Medicaid expansion by contacting the Health and Human Services Secretary of the United States of America and notify the secretary of the intentions of the state.

Through Congress Congress attempted to sweeten the proposition to the states by largely paying for all of the expansion for the first few years.

With each passing year, the percentage the state was to shoulder would be expanded and the federal government’s share would diminish. Within a moderate amount of years, the state would be responsible for a majority of the new spending. Many states did not wish to participate for political or budgetary reasons.

Most states that opted out of the new Medicaid expansion had Republican governors or Republican dominated senates or House of Representatives. These individuals were strongly opposed to the Affordable Care Act and wished to either repeal the act or strongly reform it. Consequently, they chose not to participate in the program. Other states who did not participate cited significantly constrained budgets due to the economic downturn from the late 2000s.

Individual States After running the numbers, these states did not believe they could afford the expansion when the state would shoulder in coming years the financial burden currently borne by the federal government. For those states that do opt in to the Medicaid expansion, individuals will be able to find Medicaid a consumer driven health plan, as the cost of participation will be significantly outweighed by the benefits of coverage. The healthcare benefits of Medicaid enrollees are well documented. Those who have enrolled in Medicaid previously have found that the health insurance benefits allow them to access doctors and emergency rooms with great frequency.

Studies have shown that those in the same economic class of people will access hospitals and healthcare providers at significantly different levels contingent upon the access to Medicaid. Those with Medicaid use the healthcare system many times more than those without Medicaid, when all other factors are largely held constant.

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