Hospitals stand to lose $167B in non-Medicaid expansion states

States bucking Obamacare leaving $423B on the table, study shows
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Hospitals in the 24 states that didn't expand Medicaid will lose $167.8 billion in additional funding to offset cuts to Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement under healthcare reform, an analysis by the Urban Institute with support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation showed.
 
States that declined to expand Medicaid are giving up $423.6 billion in Medicaid funds from 2013 to 2022, researchers found, and leaving an estimated 6.7 million individuals uninsured.
 
State savings and additional revenues would exceed the rise in Medicaid expenses, the report concluded, even if Congress reduces federal Medicaid spending.
 
Each additional state dollar spent would bring in $147 in federal funds, the review found.
 
The report also noted that the number of uninsured residents in states that expanded Medicaid has fallen 38 percent since September 2013, compared with a 9 percent drop in states that didn't expand the federal program.
 
A recent Gallup poll found similar results. Uninsured rates dropped twice as much in states that expanded Medicaid and either set up their own health insurances exchanges or created a joint marketplace with the federal government compared with states that didn't take those steps.
 
The White House's Council of Economic Advisers emphasized the impact of Medicaid expansion in a report issued last month, saying the 24 non-participating states are losing out on 379,000 new jobs through 2017.
 
States and payers would benefit because more than 750,000 additional people would be in excellent, very good or good health once expanded coverage was in full effect, lowering costs for both, the White House report said.
 
 For more:
-read the Urban Institute analysis
 
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