By Ann Bacharach, Pennsylvania Health Law Project
Theodore Roosevelt, the 26th President of the United States once said: “In any moment of decision, the best thing you can do is the right thing. The worst thing you can do is nothing.” Pennsylvania has an opportunity to do the “right thing”.
Extending Medicaid coverage to more uninsured Pennsylvanians makes sense for families.
By expanding its Medicaid eligibility to 138%, Pennsylvania would insure as many as 682,000 adults, including 131,000 parents. Moreover, Pennsylvania would do the right thing for children by covering parents and the other uninsured adults in children’s lives. Children whose parents have coverage are more likely to stay insured, more likely to receive preventive care and less likely to live with a parent with unmet health care needs.
As CCF researchers pointed out in their analysis of Medicaid expansion-eligible parents, the majority of them are working at least part-time and already have at least one child enrolled in Medicaid or CHIP. In addition, the majority of this group of parents (73.1%) earns less than 100% of the federal poverty level. If Pennsylvania fails to expand Medicaid, these parents will have no path to coverage; they will not be eligible for subsidized coverage through the Healthcare Marketplace. For more details see the report co-authored by Pennsylvania Health Law Project and CCF.
Extending Medicaid coverage makes sense for Pennsylvania’s budget.
By substituting 100% federally reimbursed Medicaid coverage for services now paid for through state funds, Pennsylvania can offset the costs of expansion. Taking up the expansions would save $230 million in state dollars for a program that covers 23,000 very poor adults. In addition, Pennsylvania would see an increase in revenue of $50 to $80 million (a conservative estimate) through the gross receipts tax imposed on Medicaid managed care organizations. More enrollees = more revenue to tax. Expanding Medicaid would also save $80 to $140 million in state spending on behavioral health services for uninsured residents.
Pennsylvania has the opportunity to do the right thing: improve access to health care for children and families, support the health care safety net by increasing the number of people who are insured, increase federal revenue and offset state spending on health care services and improve Pennsylvania’s economy. Or Pennsylvania could fail to act, or in the words of President Theodore Roosevelt do “…the worst thing…”.
