Dive Brief:
- On Monday, the US Department of Health and Human Services released a report estimating that insurance coverage expansions under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) led to a $7.4 billion decrease in uncompensated care costs in 2014.
- According to the report, uncompensated care costs dropped by 21% as the number of uninsured/self-pay emergency department visits decreased substantially.
- Hospitals in Medicaid expansion states reaped nearly 70% of the rewards, with a total savings of $5 billion. Hospitals in states that did not expand their Medicaid programs saved around $2.4 billion.
Dive Insight:
According to the report, if non-expansion states had increased their Medicaid coverage as expansion states did, their uncompensated care costs would have declined by an additional $1.4 billion. HHS Secretary Sylvia Mathews Burwell is currently working with six governors to help expand their programs; another 16 states are still refusing to expand. Under the ACA, the federal government will cover all costs of Medicaid expansion until 2017.