Medicaid Expansion, It's a Great Deal! (In two parts)

http://www.eclectablog.com/2013/04/medicaid-expansion-for-dummies-part-1.html

Medicaid Expansion for Dummies, Part 1

The Michigan GOP doesn’t seem to get why Medicaid expansion is good for Michigan. Time for them to hit the books.

Medicaid expansion isn’t exactly elementary. Then again, it’s not rocket science, either.

Members of the Michigan GOP have said they just haven’t had time to
look into all the details of Medicaid expansion so they can make an
educated decision. For now, let’s ignore the fact that they apparently
needed no time at all to examine Right-to-Work (For Less) before making
it a state law. Let’s also ignore the fact that they were clearly
counting on the Supreme Court to overturn the Affordable Care Act (ACA),
also known as Obamacare, so they didn’t bother doing their homework.

Instead, let’s educate them on why Medicaid expansion is the right
thing to do for Michigan. Even Governor Rick Snyder thinks so — and he says he’s still determined, even after losing another round in the budget battle.

Pssst: Pass it on. Share these facts widely, especially with your Republican representatives. Clearly, they can use some tutoring.

Medicaid expansion is good for the health of Michigan’s citizens.

Medicaid expansion would give as many as 730,000 uninsured
Michiganders the chance to enroll in Medicaid — 300,000 in 2014 alone.
This would provide better access to preventive care, which means fewer
people going to emergency rooms for routine care. That’s not what ERs
are for. Without the continuity of care people get from a primary care
physician, they just keep getting sick again and wind up back in the ER.
It’s a vicious circle that leads to deteriorating health, especially in
people with chronic conditions like diabetes, asthma or heart disease.

Still not convinced? A study published in the New England Journal of Medicine predicts a significant reduction in deaths in states that adopt Medicaid expansion.

What’s more, healthier people are more productive, which is good for
businesses and the state’s economy. Many citizens who will be eligible
for Medicaid under expansion are the working poor — and may well include
those being thrown off employer insurance at a staggering rate in Michigan — so providing them with health insurance can foster higher productivity.

Medicaid expansion reduces or eliminates the costs of  treating the uninsured.

ER visits are absurdly expensive compared to routine care visits. According to the excellent Sarah Kliff of the Washington Post, an ER visit costs more
than an average month’s rent. When the uninsured go to the ER, who pays
those bills? Many of those costs are passed on to businesses and
individuals who do buy insurance. They’re also absorbed by hospitals who
take on patients regardless of their ability to pay.

Who else covers the costs of caring for the uninsured? The State of
Michigan. Accepting federal funding for Medicaid expansion relieves the
state of much of that burden.

Medicaid expansion is supported by Michigan healthcare professionals.

Michigan’s healthcare community is practically begging for Medicaid
expansion, despite what Republicans might want you to believe. From reporting by Michigan Radio:

Most Michigan doctors say they are prepared to
take on a wave of new patients — if the state approves an expansion of
its Medicaid program.

Marianne Udow-Phillips of the Center for Healthcare Research &
Transformation says the nonprofit group surveyed 1,500 Michigan
physicians.

“Overall, 81% of primary care physicians say they’re going to expand their practices to take new patients come 2014,” Udow-Phillips says.

The CHRT study says 55 percent of primary care physicians in Michigan
say they currently accept new Medicaid patients. Among those who don’t
currently take new Medicaid patients, most physicians said they would
also take newly enrolled Medicaid patients.

Medicaid expansion will bring an influx of funding into Michigan.

As I wrote earlier this week,
there are some costs involved in Medicaid expansion. But Michigan would
incur certain costs with or without the expansion as more citizens
become eligible for Medicaid come 2014. So it makes absolutely no sense
not to accept the more than $1 billion in funding Medicaid expansion
would bring into Michigan.

Sen. John Moolenaar, who chairs the Michigan Senate Health Budget Subcommittee, has expressed concerns that
the federal government would not be able to sustain its promised
funding. This is a ridiculous assumption, considering that the federal
government has never defaulted on Medicaid payments. Via MLive.com:

Jan Hudson, senior policy analyst at the Michigan League for Public Policy, said that the federal government has never broken a promise to fund Medicaid since the program’s inception in 1965. In fact, she said, the government has a history of increasing federal match rates during times of economic stress.”

There is simply no good reason NOT to implement Medicaid expansion. 

Why on earth would budget-conscious Michigan Republicans refuse
funding that can save lives, improve public health and bring significant
money into the state? Plus, as I’ll report in part 2 of this series,
Medicaid expansion will create jobs and generate economic growth in
Michigan. What’s not to like? I don’t get it, either.

Well, actually, I do. I think the Michigan GOP is just being
spiteful. The fact that Medicaid expansion is attached to the word
“Obamacare” has rallied The Party of NO once again.

It’s time to say YES to Michigan Medicaid expansion. The Michigan Democratic Party has created a petition you can sign to make your voice heard.

There’s still time to get this right. There’s too much at stake for Michigan and its citizens to let Medicaid expansion fail.

Once again, thanks to Families USA and Michigan Consumers for Healthcare for their analysis of Medicaid expansion in Michigan (pdf) that provided key facts shared in this post.

http://www.eclectablog.com/2013/04/medicaid-expansion-for-dummies-part-2.html

Medicaid Expansion for Dummies, Part 2

Take note, Michigan GOP: It’s not just good for Michigan’s health. It’s good for Michigan’s economy, too.

I’m
having trouble remembering the last time I heard Michigan Republicans
talk about creating jobs, what with all their carrying on about
defending religious liberty, protecting the unborn, railing against the
LGBT community and … well, pretty much everything except creating jobs.

So let’s give them a nudge and make it easy for them to understand: Medicaid expansion will create jobs. It will increase economic activity and revenue. Which is what the GOP has always claimed is their top priority. Right?

In part 1 of this series,
I wrote about why Medicaid expansion is good for the health of
Michigan’s citizens. But I’m not entirely sure that’s enough to get
through to those in the Michigan GOP who are dead set on crushing
anything related to Obamacare. So it’s time for a primer on the positive
economic impact of Medicaid expansion.

Medicaid expansion will create jobs in the healthcare industry and beyond.
According to an analysis (pdf) of Medicaid expansion in Michigan conducted by Families USA and Michigan Consumers for Healthcare,
the federal funding provided for Medicaid expansion would support
approximately 18,000 Michigan jobs in 2016. (The analysis projects out
two years, to allow for all eligible citizens to enroll and the full
economic impact to kick in.)

Medicaid pays healthcare providers, which gives them more funds to
buy related goods and services and hire more employees. But the jobs
created by Medicaid expansion aren’t limited to the direct effect of
funding specific to the healthcare industry. From the analysis mentioned
above:

These dollars also have an indirect effect by triggering successive rounds of purchasing as they continue to circulate through the economy. In that way, they create earnings and jobs for people who are not directly—or even indirectly—associated with health care. For
example, a hospital may spend a portion of its revenue on facility
upgrades that employ large numbers of local construction workers.
Similarly, health sector employees will spend their income on all kinds
of products and services, such as dining at local restaurants or
purchasing new cars. This, in turn, increases the earnings of
local restaurants or car dealerships, which adds to the income of the
employees in those businesses, and so on.

Medicaid expansion will boost economic activity in Michigan.
The analysis from Families USA and Michigan Consumers for Healthcare
estimates that the new jobs created by Medicaid expansion, along with
the increased federal funding, will increase economic activity in
Michigan by nearly $2.1 billion in 2016. Yes, that’s billion with a “b.”

What’s more, the growth in economic activity and jobs will very likely increase state revenue. As the analysis points out:

More economic activity can mean more sales tax revenue
for the state or localities. More jobs in the state mean that more
people are employed, and it can also lead to higher family incomes. Both
can increase state income tax revenue. This increased revenue … could be substantial and could help offset the state’s cost for a Medicaid expansion.

Then there’s the added benefit of reducing the costs of paying for
treatment of the uninsured that’s currently passed on to businesses and
consumers — an estimated additional $1,000 in premium costs per family
in 2008. As more people are covered by insurance under Medicaid
expansion, costs passed on to Michigan citizens and businesses that
purchase insurance will go down. The result? More money those people and
businesses can spend on other things, further stimulating the economy.

Do the math, Michigan Republicans.
In addition to providing coverage for as many as 730,000 currently
uninsured Michiganders, Medicaid expansion would deliver measurable
financial benefits to the state: $1.4 billion in federal Medicaid funds,
an estimated 18,000 new jobs and $2.1 billion in increased economic
activity.

They don’t seem to care much about the well-being of Michigan’s
citizens, but there’s one thing we know the Michigan GOP does care
about: money. So let it do the talking when it comes to the benefits of
Medicaid expansion. Maybe dollars can knock some sense into them.

Want to speak out in support of Medicaid expansion? You can sign this petition created by the Michigan Democratic Party.