Wednesday, July 27, 2016

Obamacare Medicaid Cost Explosion: 49% Above Projections

A new government report shows that the average ObamaCare Medicaid expansion enrollee cost the federal government $6,366 in 2015, 49% above the per-person cost of $4,281 projected a year ago, writes Jed Graham.

Brian Blase, a research fellow in Health Policy at the Mercatus Center, was first to highlight the cost explosion, notes Graham.

He said it likely stems from incentives built into the Medicaid expansion that, for now, is 100% paid for by the federal government.

"The rates are much higher than the amounts for previously eligible Medicaid adult enrollees and suggest that states are inappropriately funneling federal taxpayer money to insurers, hospitals and other health care interests through the (Affordable Care Act) Medicaid expansion," Blase has written.

The upshot, Blase says, is that federal Medicaid spending and budget deficit projections are likely to be revised upwards when the Congressional Budget Offices takes into account the higher cost trajectory for Medicaid expansion enrollees.

 -RW

2 comments:

  1. the cost that doctors charge for office visits is beyond resonable. 5 times what you pay in europe and rising. its not the insurance. its the cost of corporate medicine

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    1. Only a socialist would claim that 'it's not the policies of the crony politicians, (who are endlessly pandering to the clueless class with OPM*), it's those evil corporations'.

      *(other people's money)

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