Jaya Pathak
Six ways Medicaid expansion could benefit the economy and main streetMedicaid Expansion
Medicaid is a special health program run by both the federal government and each state. It helps people who might not have much money get healthcare without paying too much. If you’re part of Medicaid, you can see a doctor, get check-ups each year, go to the hospital if you need to, and even get dental and mental healthcare.
When the Affordable Care Act became a law, it made it possible for more people to join Medicaid. It let every state choose if they wanted to let more people join, as long as they earned up to a certain amount of money, which is about $20,000 a year for one person. This amount changes if you have more people in your family.
Studies have shown that Medicaid is really good insurance, almost like the ones you get from a job. It helps people get to see doctors and get better when they’re sick, and it doesn’t cost too much money for the people who use it. The government pays most of the money to cover the extra people who join because of the Affordable Care Act – 90% of the costs. States only need to pay for 10% of it, which is less than they usually pay for regular Medicaid. Usually, the states pay only about half or three-quarters of the cost.
So far, 40 states and Washington, DC, have made their Medicaid programs bigger, but 10 states haven’t done it yet. Just recently, in December, North Carolina decided to make its Medicaid program bigger under the ACA. This means about 600,000 people in North Carolina can now join Medicaid. Making Medicaid bigger has been proven by many studies to not only give better healthcare to people who need it but also to bring lots of money from the government to the states that make Medicaid bigger. This helps the economy grow in different ways.
Here are five ways that making Medicaid bigger could help our economy and regular people: –
01. Building a Healthier Workforce through Expanded Healthcare Access:-
When more people have health insurance, it means more people can go to work without worrying about getting sick. This saves time and money for businesses because their employees are healthier and can work better. A study by the Department of Health and Human Services found that in states where Medicaid got bigger, almost half of the people who joined Medicaid had jobs. In states where Medicaid didn’t get bigger, only about a third of the people who joined had jobs. Having more people with jobs means businesses can rely on a steady group of workers who earn money and help their state’s economy grow.
02. Mitigating Medical Bankruptcies and Debt through Expanded Healthcare Coverage:-
Besides helping many people stay healthy through preventive actions, studies have found that making Medicaid available to more folks also lowers the amount of money people owe for medical reasons and the number of bankruptcies that happen. One study discovered that when Medicaid became available to 10% more people, the number of people going bankrupt because of medical bills went down by 8%.
Another study found that if more individuals could join Medicaid, it made it 1.3% less likely for someone to end up owing $1,000 or more in medical bills and 2.8% less likely for them to declare bankruptcy because of it. Money problems from debt and bankruptcies are big reasons why people struggle, and making Medicaid bigger helps ease these problems.
03. Alleviating Financial Strain on Hospitals, Particularly in Rural Regions:-
Most hospitals get money from insurance, but they also have to take care of people who don’t have enough insurance or none at all. This can cost the hospital a lot of money, and they might have to charge more for everyone else’s healthcare. When more people can join Medicaid, it helps hospitals a lot. In Virginia and Maine, for example, the costs for taking care of people who can’t pay went down a lot when they let more people join Medicaid in 2019.
Across the whole country, these costs went up, but in places where Medicaid got bigger, it made things better for hospitals. Small hospitals in the countryside have an even harder time because they don’t make a lot of money. Sometimes, they have to stop some services or close down because it’s so tough. Making Medicaid bigger helps these small hospitals the most, making sure they can keep going and helping people in rural areas.
04. Empowering Caregiver Employees which act as Supportive Workplace Initiative:-
More and more people are taking care of grown-ups, and according to AARP, about 61% of them have jobs, either full-time or part-time. These caregivers spend a lot of time taking care of others without getting paid, which adds up to a huge amount of work valued at $600 billion in 2021.
Taking care of others can be really hard on the people doing it – it can make them feel sad, tired, and worried about money. But when Medicaid gets bigger, it helps these caregivers spend less of their own money and do less work, which makes their lives better. A study in the Review of Economics of the Household found that when Medicaid got bigger, caregivers felt 8.2% less sad and 8.7% happier.
05. Boosting State Economies through Increased Funding:-
Some politicians in certain states say making Medicaid bigger costs too much money, but research says the good stuff it brings is worth it. Take Michigan, for instance. In 2021, they spent about $399 million to make Medicaid bigger. But because of that, they saved about $235 million and got an extra $178 million from taxes on hospitals and long-term care. So, they ended up with $43 million more than they spent. This extra money, along with other good things, helps create more jobs and business activity, which helps businesses grow and stops local hospitals and clinics from shutting down.
Benefits of medicaid expansion
Expanding Medicaid is like giving more people the chance to get health insurance. Since 2012, states could decide if they wanted to make Medicaid bigger to help adults with low incomes. So far, 36 states and the District of Columbia have made their Medicaid programs bigger this way, but 14 states haven’t done it yet. This is like a big test where we can see what happens when a state makes Medicaid bigger. It turns out, making Medicaid bigger has three big benefits:
First, when Medicaid gets bigger, it helps families with low incomes stay healthy and manage their money better, especially if someone in the family lost their job. In states where Medicaid got bigger because of the Affordable Care Act, people who lost their jobs could get health insurance more easily. This means they could go to the doctor when they needed to and didn’t have to worry about not being able to afford it. Being able to see the doctor when you’re sick makes you healthier and can even save lives. Plus, when families don’t have to worry about big medical bills, they can manage their money better and have less debt.
Second, making Medicaid bigger also helps hospitals. Even if someone doesn’t have health insurance, hospitals still have to take care of them in emergencies, like during the COVID-19 pandemic. But if people don’t have insurance, they might end up owing a lot of money to the hospital. When more people can join Medicaid, it means hospitals don’t have to worry as much about not getting paid for taking care of people.
In Michigan, for example, the amount of money hospitals lost because of people not paying their bills went down a lot after Medicaid got bigger in 2014. This happened across the country too. It’s especially important now during the pandemic when hospitals are really busy and struggling to make ends meet.
Third, making Medicaid bigger also helps create jobs and boost the economy. When the government spends more money on Medicaid, it’s like giving the economy a little push. During tough times like recessions, this extra money helps keep the economy going. Studies from past recessions have shown that for every extra $100,000 the government spends on Medicaid, it creates jobs for two people for a whole year. So, when states make Medicaid bigger, it’s not just about helping people get healthcare – it’s also about helping the economy stay strong during hard times.
