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Sunday, October 28th, 2012

States Refusing To Expand Medicaid Will Cost Hospitals Over 50 Billion Dollars

Author:     SY MUKHERJEE
Source:     Think Progress
Publication Date:     Oct 26, 2012 at 12:30 pm
 Link: States Refusing To Expand Medicaid Will Cost Hospitals Over 50 Billion Dollars
Stephan:   This is just one of several aspects of a trend I see as a war on poor people for ideological reasons. I believe it is both immoral and stupid. It is in the national interest to have a healthy population. It is very costly in many ways when the citizens of a country are unwell, and do not have access to healthcare. Please note that once again, this is happening in Red value states. As time goes on these states, already suffering from significantly inferior social outcomes in terms of everything from divorce rate to child abuse (see http://www.explorejournal.com/article/S1550-8307%2811%2900346-6/fulltext ) are going to fall further and further behind socially progressive states. In the next 20 years if the citizens of Red value states continue to vote for the same kind of politicians this trend is going to become a major issue with many implications.

According to new findings by the National Association of Public Hospitals and Health Systems (NAPH), by 2019, safety net hospitals’ uncompensated care costs will be $53 billion higher than originally estimated if states don’t opt into the voluntary expansion of the Medicaid program under Obamacare.

Safety net hospitals serve areas where, on average, 14.9 percent of the population is uninsured and 32.5 percent of the population relies on government-provided health coverage such as Medicaid. Current Medicaid reimbursements often fall short of the full cost of care, so programs such as federal DSH funding help make up the difference. Obamacare cuts DSH funding in half by 2019 in an effort to reduce national hospital payments – but only because the cuts to safety net hospitals were intended be offset by the vastly expanded pool of newly insured low-income Americans. But Republican governors across the country are digging in their heels and refusing to expand the Medicaid programs in their states.

As a consequence, safety net hospitals that care for America’s most vulnerable could face significant financial burdens by 2019, and millions of low-income and disabled Americans may lose access to the medical services they need:

Now, the cuts to DSH […]

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