COMMENT: Note that these are just public administrative costs and do not include the actual cost of care for the additional 100,000+ cases. Adding up costs to all counties equals a statewide financial disaster. Other government services will suffer as taxed-enough counties respond by shifting funds out of schools, transportation, etc., to healthcare. Healthcare is already well on its way to swallowing state and county governments whole.
“Locally, we are just beginning to fully realize how unaffordable the Affordable Care Act will be to carry out, specifically the publicly-funded medical assistance (Medicaid) portion of this law,” said Rhonda Sivarajah, chair of the Anoka County Board, in a recent op-ed. ” … we will now be hit with unfunded costs estimated to be as much as $1.4 million over the next three years to pay for the additional staff and overtime needed to administer the “Affordable” Care Act.”
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“Some county officials anticipate a 25-percent to 30-percent increase in workload as they ramp up to begin enrolling new and existing recipients of Medicaid and Minnesota Care in MNsure, the state healthcare exchange.”
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“We will have to pass those costs on to our local citizens through tax increases or budget cuts to make room … ” said Bruce Mellert, Chisago County administrator. “So we will have to adjust our budget elsewhere and cut services or programs to make room for these additional costs.”
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“We as a county this year are going to be spending over $1 million to address some of this issue,” said St. Louis County Commissioner Chris Dahlberg. “As a county, we try to run on a policy for having a surplus for tough times but Washington is putting us on a path to jeopardizing our financial security as counties.”
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“Being poorly thought through, rushed through with some Congress members stating ‘they need to vote for it to understand what is in it’, we are finding out at the local level, the byproduct of their wishful thinking,” said Anoka County Commissioner Matt Look, who opposed the health-care mandate.”
“Counties anticipate another surge related to the Affordable Care Act’s coming of age with some officials predicting up to 40 percent of health-care enrollees will sign up for food assistance at the same time.”
MN Counties Brace for ‘Not so Affordable Care Act’
By Tom Steward | Watchdog Minnesota
May 1, 2013
http://watchdog.org/82487/mn-counties-brace-for-not-so-affordable-care-act/