Could Expanding Medicaid Improve Georgia’s Workforce?
The following is the Expert Update article from the Fall Making a Difference magazine.
Could Expanding Medicaid Improve Georgia's Workforce?
By Timothy Sweeney
Nearly two million Georgians lack health insurance, placing Georgia among the worst states in the nation when it comes to health coverage. Georgia has a chance to dramatically improve its standing – and the lives of hundreds of thousands of Georgians – by expanding Medicaid through the Affordable Care Act (ACA), the nation's health reform law.
If Georgia moves forward with the expansion, roughly 600,000 Georgians will gain health insurance, which leads to better health and more financial security. Furthermore, the expansion would bring tens of billions of new federal dollars flowing into our economy through doctors and nurses, hospitals and other healthcare providers around the State.
Providing health insurance to more individuals improves health outcomes and offers greater financial security to many families. For example, a study on Medicaid expansion in Oregon found that newly covered individuals were less likely to be sent to collections or skip paying other bills due to medical bills, more likely to have a regular source for primary care services and more likely to report being in good or excellent health. Many of these benefits could be ours.
Yet, those who are hesitant to expand Medicaid often focus on two arguments: the expansion will cost too much and Georgia's healthcare system can't handle the increase of patients with Medicaid. However, a closer look at these issue shows that expanding Medicaid would be good for Georgia's people, economy and healthcare system.
First, the federal government will pay for all of the costs for newly eligible Georgians for the first three years and at least 90% of the costs in the long-term. According to the State's own numbers, new state spending for covering newly eligible Georgians would amount to barely more than a 1% increase in the overall state budget over the next 10 years. Even taking into account the expected increase in enrollment among Georgians currently eligible for Medicaid (mostly children), the new costs would amount to less than a 2% increase – a small price for providing health insurance to so many.
Secondly, more than $33 billion in new federal funding over the first 10 years would help address the State's need for more doctors and ensure that Georgia has an adequate healthcare infrastructure to treat new patients coming into the system. Specifically, if more Georgians have insurance, they will seek services from doctors, pharmacies, clinics and other health providers.
The new federal funding will help pay the providers who deliver the care. Seeing fewer patients who lack insurance coverage will reduce hospitals' costs and improve their bottom lines. Failing to expand Medicaid could leave hundreds of thousands of people uncovered and complicate efforts to address Georgia's health workforce and infrastructure challenges, not to mention efforts to improve health outcomes. Although some Georgia leaders have indicated reluctance to implement the expansion, there is still plenty of time for Georgia to seize this opportunity.
About Timothy Sweeney
Timothy Sweeney is the director of health policy at the Georgia Budget & Policy Institute (GBPI). Since 2005, he has closely followed Medicaid and other health policy developments in Georgia, documenting the effects various budget and policy proposals have on state healthcare programs. His research focuses on a wide variety of Georgia's healthcare issues affecting Medicaid and PeachCare, as well as health insurance-related tax policy issues.
