A massive expansion of insurance programs like Medicaid and a drop in emergency room visits saved hospitals at least $7.4 billion over the last year, the Obama administration announced Monday.
With millions more people covered under ObamaCare last year, hospitals faced fewer bills from patients who lacked insurance and were unable to pay. Hospitals also saw fewer emergency room visits, which rack up far higher costs and often leave hospitals with the tab.
The costs of those services — known as uncompensated care — dropped by one-fifth nationwide in 2014, according to a government report released Monday.
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) released the findings to mark the fifth year since the passage of ObamaCare.
Nearly 70 percent of those savings came from states that have expanded the eligibility for Medicaid under ObamaCare. The 29 states with Medicaid expansions saved a total of $5 billion last year, compared to the $2.4 billion saved in states that did not expand the program.
The government’s report — which focuses on the benefits of Medicaid expansion — is an effort to entice states that have been politically resistant to expanding the program.
If all states had allowed more people to sign up for Medicaid, their hospitals could have saved an extra $1.4 billion, the report finds.
HHS Secretary Sylvia Mathews Burwell celebrated the results Monday at a press conference with the Democratic governor of Virginia, Terry McAuliffe, who has fought to expand Medicaid in his state but so far failed to do so.
Burwell is currently working with six governors, including McAuliffe, to expand the program. Another 16 states have refused to do the expansion.we know republicans lied and misled for all these years about ObamaCares but reports are proving them wrong but they still call it a train wreck and my favorite an abomination what does a real abomination look like to them we know it's not disenfranchising voters, taking food stamps away refusing to do anything that helps unless they can get some absurdity of theirs to pass with it. we still have a large portion of voters that still follow the pied piper republicans and making no noise when they are still without ACA because of denial by their respective governors not because of the money.
people need to really start seeking more avenues of information and lose the one of misinformation alone. if you still admire bill o;reilly you need to check out another channel. and pray the scotus is in a good mood the right wing side exclusively we know the other four justices have our backs.
