Due to Affordable Care Act, Millions More Americans Will Gain Health Coverage Through Medicaid

Press Release

Today, Rep. Hank Johnson (GA-04) released figures highlighting recent data that show that there would be 478,000 fewer uninsured Georgians by 2016 if Governor Deal does the right thing by his constituents and takes advantage of the Medicaid expansion opportunity provided under the Affordable Care Act.

"Access to healthcare should be a right and not a privilege for only those who can afford it," said Rep. Johnson. "People who could be covered shouldn't be denied basic health care because public officials would rather play politics. With more than 2 million Georgians without health insurance, Georgia can't afford not to do this. Last year alone, Georgia hospitals lost about $1.5 billion in uncompensated care. That hidden cost is unsustainable."

Because of the health care law, states can choose to expand their Medicaid coverage to all adults with incomes below 133% of poverty (around $32,000 for a family of four) and in return receive 100% of federal funding to cover those costs for the first three years and no less than 90% federal support for those costs in the years following.

So far, 26 states and the District of Columbia have taken up this Medicaid expansion opportunity, giving millions of Americans access to affordable health care. In fact, thanks to these states and the opening of the new Health Insurance Marketplaces, we know that 6 in 10 currently uninsured Americans will have access to health coverage for $100 per month or less next year, and that number would rise to 8 in 10 if the states that haven't expanded coverage -- including Georgia -- did.

Expanding Medicaid is a smart choice for Georgia. It would mean 478,000 fewer uninsured Georgians. Accounting for factors that reduce costs, the Kaiser Family Foundation finds that states as a whole are likely to see net savings from expanding Medicaid. Combining Medicaid costs with a conservative estimate of $18 billion in state and local non-Medicaid savings on uncompensated care, the Medicaid expansion would save states a total of $10 billion over 2013-2022.

Helping families take advantage of the benefits of the health care law like expanded Medicaid eligibility should be a top priority for lawmakers in Washington. Yet instead of working to fix the law, House Republicans have voted to repeal the health care law more than 40 times, even shutting down the government to prevent new benefits like the opportunity for 478,000 uninsured Georgians to gain access to affordable health care if Governor Deal did the right thing by his constituents.

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