We know that states that refuse to expand Medicaid are denying healthcare to millions of people, but how much business and economic activity are they losing?
According to the Urban Institute and Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, states who refuse to expand medicaid, and the hospitals located in those states, could miss out on over half a trillion dollars between now and 2022.
via TPM
“In the 24 states that have not expanded Medicaid, 6.7 million residents are projected to remain uninsured in 2016 as a result. These states are foregoing $423.6 billion in federal Medicaid funds from 2013 to 2022, which will lessen economic activity and job growth,” the authors wrote. [...]
The study pointed to other economic costs for non-expansion states, notably the higher cost of uncompensated care for hospitals, who are legally required to provide emergency care for patients whether or not they’re insured.
According to the study, hospitals in states that refuse to expand Medicaid will also lose nearly $170 billion on top of the $424 billion that the states will lose, bringing the total to nearly $600 billion
If over half a trillion dollars over 9 years is socialism, maybe socialism isn’t so bad.
How many potential jobs and how many lives will be lost while Republican governors and legislatures sit on their hands?