15 Oct Kaiser Family Foundation finds states refusing Medicaid expansion paying more

The Kaiser Family Foundation surveyed Medicaid directors in all 50 states to get an overview of how the Affordable Care Act and its implementation is affecting the program.

Today, KFF posted the results of the survey on their website. The extensive report focuses on state Fiscal Year 2015 and state Fiscal Year 2016.

NPR.org offers a synopsis of the findings. The bottom line: the 22 states that didn’t expand Medicaid eligibility as part of Obamacare last year saw their costs increase twice as fast as states that extended benefits to more low-income residents.

Those states not broadening their Medicaid coverage saw costs rise 6.9 percent in the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30. The 29 states that accepted the offer for President Obama to foot the bill for expanding Medicaid only saw a 3.4 percent rise in cost.

Those states with the modest increase in cost saw Medicaid participation grow by 18 percent. That’s 3 times as much as the states that sat out.

Before Obamacare, Medicaid was not an option for able-bodied adults who didn’t ahve children. The expansion opened the door to all adults with incomes up to 138 percent of the povertly level to enroll. In 2015, the federal government paid the entire bill for those people. Next year, the federal share tapers to 90 percent.

The Medicaid enrollment is expected to slow down in 2016, according to the KFF survey.

Click here to read the Kaiser Family Foundation survey report.