Question

The Affordable Care Act allowed for the expansion of the Medicaid program. As the Act passed through the legal system, many states have decided not to expand their respective programs. Select one of the 50 states and discuss whether they have decided to expand their Medicaid program. What are the implications of this decision? Would this expansion help to improve both access and quality while reducing costs?

Answer 1

Florida

Florida has not yet allowed for the implementation of the Medicaid expansion. It has further delayed it to the 2022 ballots of its organizing committee.

The implications are many and far-reaching. For example, there is a sharp difference between the rate of hospital closures between the states which have adopted the expansion and those which haven't. This is because due to a higher number of insured patients, there is a better chance of the hospital surviving and earning its revenues from them. This has brought down their chances for closures. While those states which haven't yet adopted the Medicaid expansion have high hospital closures rates.

Also, the coverage gains and drops in the uninsured patients in the lower-income population groups have been reported which has worked favorably for the states which have implemented it.

Implementing the expansion can have many benefits for the overall population and improves the quality of services provided. It helps in providing affordable medical care to the people of the states which helps to implement the health expenditures better, brings down the mortality rate.

Also, Medicaid helps in biding the gaps between the lower income levels groups and the middle and upper-level groups. With these, most people who couldn't afford care earlier are legible for getting health care now. This helps in increasing the overall health of the population and results in an efficient and more productive workforce. This can help the economy of the state to a large extent.