The expansion of health insurance and Medicaid across the country has reduced the number of unpaid hospital bills dramatically, according to a
new report from Health and Human Services on the progress of the law. The agency projects the savings to the nation's hospitals for 2014 alone will be $5.7 billion. In the states that have expanded Medicaid, unpaid bills have fallen by one third.
“Hospitals have long been on the front lines of caring for the uninsured, who often cannot pay the full costs of their care,” said HHS Secretary M. Sylvia Burwell. “Today’s news is good for families, businesses, and taxpayers alike. It’s yet another example of how the Affordable Care Act is working in terms of affordability, access, and quality.”
Projections from today’s report suggest that hospitals in states that have expanded Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act will see greater savings than hospitals in states that have not expanded Medicaid. Hospitals in states that have expanded Medicaid are projected to save up to $4.2 billion, which makes up about 74 percent of the total savings nationally this year. Hospitals in states that have opted not to expand Medicaid are projected to save up to $1.5 billion this year, and which is only 26 percent of the total savings nationally.
The visual form of this is pretty dramatic:
So is the real life impact. Take the example of Texas, where
annual uncompensated care is $5.5 billion—almost as much as has been saved nationwide by Obamacare. It's seen a bit of improvement because of new Obamacare enrollees, but Gov. Rick Perry's refusal to expand Medicaid is costing the state—and the state's taxpayers—dearly. Property tax revenues are used to keep hospitals running. The state could receive as much as $100 billion in federal funds in the next decade, with expansion. That's something the state's hospitals and its taxpayers would happily accept.