Health News
If Kentucky chooses to expand Medicaid eligibility up to 133 percent of the federal poverty level, the state will gain in key areas, argues Jason Bailey, director of the Kentucky Center for Economic Policy, right, in an op-ed piece in the Lexington Herald-Leader.
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- Beshear Says He Will Decide In Four To Five Weeks, Or July 1 At The Latest, Whether Or Not To Expand Medicaid
By Al Cross Kentucky Health News This story has been updated. Gov. Steve Beshear said Monday that he will decide within the next four to five weeks, or maybe by July 1, whether to expand the Medicaid program under federal health-care reform. Beshear,...
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Several Republican governors have decided to expand Medicaid under federal health-care reform, saying their conservative principles were outweighed by a need to protect their state's rural hospitals and low-income people. Yesterday, the...
- Cbo Estimates Court Ruling Will Mean 3 Million Fewer People Than Predicted Will Get Insurance, Saving Federal Government $84 Billion
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- Last Year, 17.4 Percent Of Kentuckians Lived In Poverty And 17.5 Percent Did Not Have Health Insurance
More than one in six Kentuckians lived in poverty last year and almost exactly the same number didn't have health insurance, preliminary U.S. Census numbers show. The state's poverty rate was 17.4 percent and the uninsured rate was...
Health News
Expanding Medicaid will save the state money by eliminating much expense on the uninsured, think tank and op-ed writer argue
Citing numbers from the Urban Institute, Bailey said the law will provide more than 400,000 Kentuckians with health insurance whether through the expansion of Medicaid or through the state insurance exchange, a number he told Kentucky Health News is a "conservative estimate."
But the kicker is the move will also "result in deep savings in money now spent on the uninsured," he writes. Bailey again quotes from the Urban Institute report, which indicates the state will save between $140 million and $828 million in the first six years of the law in large part because of the decreased use of emergency rooms and because Medicaid will pick up most of the tab for mental health services, which states and local governments mostly shoulder alone.
The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, though, estimates that states' Medicaid spending will rise by 2.2 percent by 2022 if they decide to expand Medicaid. But that number "actually overstates the net impact on state budgets because it does not reflect the savings that state and local governments will realize in health-care costs for the uninsured," CBPP spokesperson Shannon Spillane told Suzy Khimm for The Washington Post. "In fact, states could end up with a net gain." (Read more)
But the kicker is the move will also "result in deep savings in money now spent on the uninsured," he writes. Bailey again quotes from the Urban Institute report, which indicates the state will save between $140 million and $828 million in the first six years of the law in large part because of the decreased use of emergency rooms and because Medicaid will pick up most of the tab for mental health services, which states and local governments mostly shoulder alone.
The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, though, estimates that states' Medicaid spending will rise by 2.2 percent by 2022 if they decide to expand Medicaid. But that number "actually overstates the net impact on state budgets because it does not reflect the savings that state and local governments will realize in health-care costs for the uninsured," CBPP spokesperson Shannon Spillane told Suzy Khimm for The Washington Post. "In fact, states could end up with a net gain." (Read more)
- Highly Anticipated Report On First Year Of Medicaid Expansion Says Kentucky Can Afford It Even With Higher-than-expected Enrollment
By Melissa Patrick Kentucky Health News FRANKFORT, Ky. -- Kentucky's decision to expand Medicaid under federal health reform is a better deal than previously projected and will more than pay for itself, Gov. Steve Beshear said as he unveiled a top...
- Beshear Says He Will Decide In Four To Five Weeks, Or July 1 At The Latest, Whether Or Not To Expand Medicaid
By Al Cross Kentucky Health News This story has been updated. Gov. Steve Beshear said Monday that he will decide within the next four to five weeks, or maybe by July 1, whether to expand the Medicaid program under federal health-care reform. Beshear,...
- Kasich Of Ohio Is Fifth Republican Governor To Accept Medicaid Expansion; He And Others Cite Need To Protect Rural Hospitals, Poor
Several Republican governors have decided to expand Medicaid under federal health-care reform, saying their conservative principles were outweighed by a need to protect their state's rural hospitals and low-income people. Yesterday, the...
- Cbo Estimates Court Ruling Will Mean 3 Million Fewer People Than Predicted Will Get Insurance, Saving Federal Government $84 Billion
The Congressional Budget Office estimates 3 million fewer people will get health insurance than expected before the U.S. Supreme Court's decision on the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. The CBO forecasts that will reduce the law's estimated...
- Last Year, 17.4 Percent Of Kentuckians Lived In Poverty And 17.5 Percent Did Not Have Health Insurance
More than one in six Kentuckians lived in poverty last year and almost exactly the same number didn't have health insurance, preliminary U.S. Census numbers show. The state's poverty rate was 17.4 percent and the uninsured rate was...