Medicaid expansion was a cornerstone of the ACA over the past eight years; but faced with an uncertain future in 2017, here is what states stand to lose, according to a Kaiser Family Foundation report.
1. Insurance for adults — Around 11 million adults who were eligible for Medicaid due to the expansion enrolled last year. Whether these 11 million enrollees would lose their benefits depends on how individual states decide to handle the expansion.
2. Low uninsured rate — The uninsured rate fell from 16.6 percent in 2013 to 10 percent in 2016; much of the decrease is due to adults who gained insurance through the Medicaid expansion. If states roll back the expansion, many of these beneficiaries would become uninsured.
3. Federal funding — The states that expanded Medicaid received $79 billion in federal funding from January 2014 to June 2015, meaning without federal support states may have a more difficult time providing coverage to these individuals. Thirty-one states and the District of Columbia currently participate in the Medicaid expansion.
The American public generally supports the Medicaid expansion, and two-thirds of people who voted for President-elect Donald Trump feel the same way. Among the states that have Medicaid expansion, half will have Republican governors next year.