Heritage: OK Medicaid Expansion Will Cost Nearly $500M
Medicaid expansion would cost Oklahoma $484 million through 2017, Heritage Foundation report says
BY WAYNE GREENE World Senior Writer
Saturday, March 16, 2013
Oklahoma would end up absorbing $484 million in additional costs through 2017 if it expands its Medicaid program under the Affordable Care Act, according to a report from the Heritage Foundation.
“Medicaid needs reform, not expansion,” said Nina Owcharenko, director of the Center for Health Policy Studies at the Heritage Foundation.
The report is the latest in a blizzard of reports estimating various cost impacts from the Medicaid expansion plan. Proponents and opponents of a key element of “Obamacare” have argued the expansion would either cost states millions or save them money.
The Heritage Foundation report compares the potential costs of new benefits and administrative costs for a Medicaid expansion to the potential savings from uncompensated care funded by state governments.