Medicaid Enrollment Will Tank States Who Took Fed Money, Nearly 1/5 Nationwide Receive Benefits

Nearly one-fifth of all Americans — 61 million nationwide — are on Medicaid, the already-financially insolvent government-run health care program. States who participated in the Medicaid expansion program under ObamaCare, will be in serious financial trouble after the initial three years are up, when Uncle Sam no longer bares any of the financial burden.

A new report from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services found states who opted out of the Medicaid expansion see their states’ Medicaid enrollment rolls expanding their rolls at only a fraction of the rate as those who opted in, with some states even reporting a net decrease relative to the prior year baseline.

In total, for the 46 states (including the District of Columbia) who reported both February 2014 enrollment data and data from July — September of 2013, which is the pre-open enrollment baseline period, roughly 61.0 million individuals (nearly one-fifth of the total 312 million) were enrolled in Medicaid and CHIP in February, a gain of around 3 million additional individuals and a 5.2 percent increase over the average monthly enrollment for July — September of 2013.

In states who opted for the Medicaid expansion and whose expansions were in effect in February 2014, Medicaid enrollment rose by a whopping 8.3 percent compared to the July — September 2013 baseline period, while states that are not expanding Medicaid reported just a 1.6 percent increase over the same period.

Even before the passage of ObamaCare, the Medicaid actuaries warned of the program’s insolvency. According to a document obtained by People’s Pundit Daily in Nov. from the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services, new ObamaCare costs are projected to push total health expenditures to over $5 trillion a year by 2022.

“In 2014, national health spending is projected to rise to 7.4 percent, or 2.1 percentage- points faster than in the absence of reform [or, passing ObamaCare], as the major coverage expansions from the Affordable Care Act (ACA) are expected to result in 22 million fewer uninsured people (compared to estimates that exclude the law’s impacts). Increases in Medicaid spending growth of 18.0 percent and private health insurance growth of 7.9 percent both contribute to this overall acceleration in national health spending in 2014.”

However, because of the bailout provision included in the ACA, considering the risk pool is now far more slanted than previously expected, these numbers are actually understating the true cost. Even the new CMS report admits these new figures will under-project costs if used to score.

“Note that the February 2014 enrollment numbers understate total Medicaid and CHIP enrollment because not all states are reporting, the data are preliminary, and the data do not include most individuals who will later be found eligible for Medicaid or CHIP effective in February through retroactive coverage,” the report reads.

And that doesn’t even include missed data from reporting delays. Below are the tables for states expanding Medicaid and states not expanding Medicaid, which clearly show some states who were already in financial dire straits expanding at an unsustainable rate.

I wonder what kind of care Medicaid will provide when cost controls inevitably are implemented? Maybe we could ask Paul Krugman — Mr. “Yes, death panels are built into the system” — for an answer?

States Not Expanding Medicaid reported only a 1.6 percent increase over the same period.