According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, as of June 20, 2013, 21 states are opting out of the federal Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) Medicaid expansion next year and another six states are still weighing their options. Those states, including Connecticut, that have opted in to the expansion must cover childless adults with incomes up to 133% of the federal poverty level (FPL) beginning January 1, 2014. Approximately 11.5 million uninsured, non-elderly, poor adults currently live in states that have opted out, according to Kaiser.
According to a CNN Money article, governors in several of the states that have opted out have cited concerns about the added financial burden associated with expanded coverage despite the fact that enhanced federal matching funds will cover 100% of the expansion for the first three years. The enhanced funding will gradually decrease to 90% coverage of the expansion by 2020.
A June report by Rand Corporation, a nonpartisan research institution, found that the 14 states opting out of the ACA’s Medicaid expansion as of April 2013 (1) would receive $8.4 billion less in federal payments, (2) could spend $1 billion more on uncompensated care in 2016, and (3) would have 3.6 million fewer people newly insured.
