Arguments Against The Expansion Of Medicaid

States are being pressured to expand Medicaid to families earning up to $30,000 a year, just like the Affordable Care Act permits. While several respected governors have agreed to expand the program, many other governors and state legislators are cautious. These officials do not want to deny Americans their access to health care, however they do want to slow the expansion of a program that will provide them with limited access to quality care while destroying state budgets. One of the strongest arguments that can be made against the expansion of Medicaid is the fact that States simply can not afford it. The appeal to states to expand Medicaid is that the federal government will cover 100% of the cost through 2016 and eventually lowering to

A study in Health Affairs found that in 2011, nearly a third of physicians nationwide would not accept new Medicaid patients. This is because the Medicaid program typically pays doctors much less than private insurers. Nationally, for every dollar primary care received from someone with employer sponsored health insurance in 2008, Medicaid only paid 52 cents (“Why States Should Not Expand Medicaid”). During a town hall meeting House Speaker Paul Ryan said “The problem that we’re seeing in Medicaid is more and more doctors just won’t take Medicaid, because they lose money on

In a recent series of polls done by Kaiser Family Foundation one question read as follows, “Would you say the current medicaid program is working well for most low-income people covered by the program, or not?” (10 charts, 2017). 61% of those questioned felt as if the program is running well for low-income Americans, while 26% believed the opposite.

Another question from the Kaiser poll was “Thinking about health priorities in the Federal Budget, do you want to see the president and congress increase spending, decreasing spending, or keep it about the same on medicaid?” (10 Charts, 2017). 47% of those that replied believed that the current medicaid budget should be kept as is, 40% said to increase spending, and only 12% wanted to decrease spending. The results of the Kaiser poll demonstrate how the public supports the way the program is being run and the distribution of