Expanding Medicaid would save money

 

Editor, the Tribune: Medicaid expansion would help the state budget, not hurt it. A graph caption in the Sunday Tribune repeated the political talking point that we cannot afford to expand Medi-caid. The opposite is true — Missouri could immediately start saving state dollars by expanding Medicaid to people in the coverage gap.

Federal funds would pay 90 percent of the cost to cover people living below the poverty line. Federal funds also would pay 90 percent of the cost of existing Medi-caid programs that the state now pays for. Examples: instead of paying 100 percent for mental health services for 40,000 people and paying for 100 percent of medical care for prisoners in state facilities, we would pay 10 percent for each.

The savings from these and other programs would more than offset the cost of coverage for poor working-age Missourians. Most of them work but do not make enough to qualify for the federal insurance exchange.

The nonpartisan Missouri Budget Project published a detailed report called “Medicaid Makes (Dollars &) Sense” available at www.mobudget.org. It cites figures from the Missouri Office of Budget and Planning that Missouri would save more than $100 million each year by expanding Medicaid. That money could be put to good use funding our schools.

Several surrounding states — Arkansas, Illinois, Iowa and Kentucky — have figured this out. Let’s do a better job of informing the public about this issue so we can join them.

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