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Akron
Beacon Journal...
Trouble
for
the uninsured
July 25,
2012
In its
landmark ruling in June, the U.S. Supreme Court made Medicaid expansion
optional, striking down the requirement in the Affordable Care Act that
state governments,
beginning in 2014, cover adults under age 65 with incomes up to 133
percent of
the federal poverty level. On Tuesday, the nonpartisan Congressional
Budget
Office clarified some of the effects of the court’s decision.
According
to the budget office analysis, permitting states to opt out of Medicaid
expansion will reduce by 6 million the number of uninsured people who
could
have gained health coverage through the public program for poor
families. With
the optional expansion, the projected cost of the reform law over the
next 10
years would be $84 billion less than earlier estimates of $1.7 trillion.
Worth
highlighting, too, for those like Lt. Gov. Mary Taylor who contend that
the
nation and its economy would be served best by repealing the law, the
CBO
analysis concludes that the health-care law will reduce budget deficits
in the
future. A repeal, on the other hand, would increase the federal deficit
by $109
billion over 10 years.
No less
important, the court’s easing of the Medicaid mandate is retrogressive.
A major
goal of the overhaul is to open avenues to affordable coverage for as
many as
possible of the 53 million or so Americans who currently lack health
coverage.
The assumption in expanding Medicaid eligibility is that it would cover
the lowest-income
earners, while premium and cost-sharing subsidies would make coverage
through
the new health exchanges more affordable for those who are better off,
up to
400 percent of the poverty level.
Read the
rest of the article at the Akron Beacon Journal
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