Oklahoman: Medicaid expansion has been a hit, but …
Medicaid expansion has been a hit, but …
IF the true goal of Obamacare is to get all Americans under a single-payer system, as some of its opponents claim, it’s well underway.
Medicaid is gaining enrollees at a far faster clip than the private insurance market. While the Affordable Care Act’s website and President Obama’s promises are in shambles, states that took the bait and expanded Medicaid eligibility are seeing dramatic increases.
Stateline.org surveyed the 25 states (plus the District of Columbia) that expanded eligibility. It found that the number of newly eligible Medicaid enrollees is more than 25 times the number of people signed up for private coverage.
This isn’t true in Oklahoma, which so far has refused to exercise the option of expanding Medicaid. Critics of this decision say it’s tantamount to sending the tax dollars of Oklahomans to other states instead of keeping them here. The reality is that everyone who pays federal taxes is sending money to Medicaid, boosting the costs of a permanent entitlement that ultimately will bite the hardest on taxpayers in states that have expanded.
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