Medicaid Expansion

30 June 2010

Pro-Active Messaging on Medicaid Expansion

• Too many hardworking Americans can't afford health care coverage for themselves or their children and their lack of coverage has become an additional financial burden to Middle Americans.
• Now many more hardworking Americans and their family will have quality health care.
• The reform reduces uncompensated care costs, bringing savings to our system and lowering costs for many more families.

• The reform expands Medicaid by 2014 to all people with incomes below 133% of the federal poverty level (approximately $30,000/annually for a family of four).
• The federal government picks up the full tab for newly eligible people for up to the first three years; states then begin to pick up approximately 10% of the cost.
• By investing in the health care of their citizens, states provide for a healthier, stronger, more productive workforce; businesses save costs, reinvest in their companies, and create new jobs; the state's tax base grows; and our grown children will remain in-state more confident of good jobs and a better place to raise their own family.

Response to Attacks on Medicaid Expansion

Attack
"Democrats in Congress rammed this bill through on the premise that it would 'pay for itself' over ten years. Well while it's 'paying for itself,' the permanent Medicaid expansion is clearly going to be breaking the budgets of all 50 states. State budgets are going to explode—by $37 billion, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office—because states will no longer be allowed to set eligibility in line with their own decisions about taxes and spending."

Response
"Medicaid expansion finally brings affordable health care to millions of Americans; folks who work hard, pay their taxes, play by the rules but have not been able to afford coverage. The federal government picks up the full tab for these newly eligible people for up to three years; afterwards states begin to pick up approximately 10% of the cost. This is a shared national enterprise. Those who question the benefit of the expansion are only considering one column on the state's spread sheet. By investing in the their citizens, states will begin to provide for a healthier, stronger, more productive workforce; businesses will save on costs, reinvest in their companies, and create new jobs; the state's tax base will grow; and more of our children will not have to leave their childhood homes in order to be able to secure good jobs and raise their own healthy families."

Attack
"The Medicaid expansion will be adding 11 million people to the Medicaid rolls. But all it will be doing is guaranteeing coverage not care, as fewer than half of doctors accept Medicaid patients."

Response
"Medicaid already covers millions of Americans, and it does so efficiently and effectively. It makes sense to build on a program that is already in place, has a proven track record, and allows all members of a family to be covered. Health care reform means that personal physicians treating Medicaid patients will get paid more—as much as they get for Medicare patients. This means more doctors will be available to treat Medicaid patients. Opponents want you to believe that Medicaid expansion is a stand alone reform. But it's not. Comprehensive reform was specifically passed so we improve coverage and assure that everyone has affordable access to quality services."