Comment: Here’s a hard question Medicaid expansion supporters can’t answer: Isn’t it true that hospitals lose money on every Medicaid patient that comes in the door? Why, then, do hospitals think it makes sense to expand the program? Do they really expect to “make it up on volume”? If you believe that, I have a bridge in Brooklyn to sell you.
“…an analysis from the Lewin Group, a prominent health care consulting firm, finds that if New Hampshire expands Medicaid,Granite State hospitals will actually lose $228 million in revenue over the next seven years….”
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“…32,120 New Hampshirites will be moved from higher-quality private coverage into the broken Medicaid system….”
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“…overthe seven-year period from 2014 to 2020, expanding the Medicaid program wouldreduce uncompensated care by $490 million. But that reduction would be almostentirely offset by a $476 million increase in undercompensated care [emphasis added]: shortfallscaused by the fact that Medicaid underpays hospitals for the cost of caring forMedicaid patients.”
“Hospitals would actually lose money on the change: $228 million in total from 2014 to 2020…. Overall, New Hampshire providers would lose more than $45 million a year in net income if the state expands Medicaid. This is, again, because providers would be shifting from higher-paying private insurance into poorly-paying Medicaid.”
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Report: If New Hampshire Expands Medicaid, State Hospitals Will Lose Hundreds Of Millions Of Dollars
Avik Roy
8/27/2013
http://www.forbes.com/sites/theapothecary/2013/08/27/report-if-new-hampshire-expands-medicaid-state-hospitals-will-lose-hundreds-of-millions-of-dollars/