Medicaid expansion may spur economic growth

Medicaid expansion was one of the goals of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010; however, in 2012, the Supreme Court ruled that states couldn’t be forced to expand their Medicaid programs. The decision to expand Medicaid or not was then left up to the individual states. At this time, 39 states (included D.C.) have adopted Medicaid expansion with Missouri joining that list on August 4, 2020. The planned implementation date for Medicaid expansion in Missouri is July 21, 2021.

Missouri’s Medicaid program is called MO HealthNet. MO HealthNet covers qualified medical expenditures for individuals who meet specific eligibility requirements. Medicaid expansion extends eligibility to uninsured adults and children whose incomes are at or below 138 percent of the federal poverty level. The Kaiser Family Foundation provides the following example of the impact of Medicaid expansion in Missouri. Currently, custodial parents are only eligible for MO HealthNet if they earn no more than 21 percent of the federal poverty level, which is $4,479/year for a family of 3. Under Medicaid expansion, that raises to $28,676/year for a family of three.

The health challenges of rural Missourians are real. It is estimated that 250,000 Missourians could potentially be covered under Medicaid expansion, with approximately 800 of those individuals residing in Cedar County. These individuals will gain better access to the care they need to maintain and improve their health.

Medicaid expansion will help rural hospitals such as Cedar County Memorial Hospital in El Dorado Springs by reducing the costs of uncompensated care. Uncompensated care is defined as services provided by a health care provider for which the health care provider is not reimbursed. “While we have not paid our contracted auditing firm to perform an in-depth analysis to determine the actual financial benefit of Medicaid expansion to Cedar County Memorial Hospital, they have informed us Medicaid expansion would positively impact our financial situation,” said Cedar County Memorial Hospital CEO, Jana Witt. “Research performed in states that passed Medicaid expansion shows that hospitals in expansion states experienced a sizeable reduction in their uncompensated care.”

To date, no state that expanded Medicaid has reversed that decision. Medicaid expansion states report benefits such as improved health outcomes, job and economic growth and decreased rural hospital closures.

Jana Witt, C.EO., Cedar County Memorial Hospital