Report: Expanding Medicaid Would Give a Boost to West Virginia’s Economy

Influx of Medicaid Dollars Would Spur Job Creation, Economic Activity

Washington, D.C — A report released today says that accepting federal dollars to expand West Virginia’s Medicaid program would not only bring access to affordable health care to 166,000 West Virginians, but it would also support approximately 6,200 new jobs in 2016 across the spectrum of the state’s economy.

The report, released jointly by West Virginians for Affordable Health Care and the national consumer advocacy organization Families USA, spotlights a wide range of health care and economic benefits that West Virginia could experience by participating in the Affordable Care Act’s Medicaid expansion.

The report is based on the general guidelines for Medicaid expansion under the reform law: While the federal government now pays 72 percent of the cost of the current Medicaid program, it will pay all the costs of expanded coverage the first three years of the program, 2014 to 2016, and its share will then only decrease to 90 percent by 2020. In 2016, an estimated additional $539 million in Medicaid dollars would be spent on health care in West Virginia.

The Medicaid “expansion,” as it is termed, is actually a national standardization of eligibility, raising the qualifying income level to 138 percent of the federal poverty level and making single individuals or couples without children eligible for Medicaid in states where they did not otherwise qualify.

With West Virginia dealing with an unemployment rate of 7.5 percent in December 2012, a gain of 6,200 new jobs in 2016 is just one of many benefits to the state. The Medicaid expansion would also do the following:

• Increase economic activity. The increased federal funding and jobs created are projected to increase economic activity in West Virginia by $664 million in 2016.
  
  
• Reduce state pending on state-funded health care programs for the uninsured. Currently, states and localities pay for about 30 percent of the cost of uncompensated care. A recent study by the Kaiser Family Foundation estimates that West Virginia could save $281 million dollars in uncompensated care costs from 2013 to 2022.
  
  
• Strengthen the state’s health care system. The West Virginia Hospital Association says that the state’s hospitals absorbed $279 million in costs for providing charity care for the uninsured in 2010. Increasing the number of residents receiving Medicare would reduce those costs, strengthening the health care system for everyone in the state.
  
  
• Reduce costs from uncompensated care that are passed on to consumers and businesses. Some of the costs of uncompensated care are also passed along to insurance companies, which in turn raise premiums for businesses and families. In 2008, the costs of uncompensated care increased family health insurance premiums by an estimated $1,017.  By reducing the number of West Virginians without insurance, those cost shifts can be reduced.
  
  
• Increase state revenue. Although tax structures vary from state to state, increasing jobs and business activity generally means more sales tax revenue for states or localities, and more jobs and better-paying jobs also contribute to state income. This increase could help offset the state’s own cost for a Medicaid expansion.
  
  
• Help West Virginias become healthier and more productive. More than one hundred thousand West Virginians will now have access to affordable health coverage, an essential step to healthier lives and a gain for West Virginia. 

“The Medicaid expansion is a win-win-win proposition for the people of West Virginia,” Ron Pollack, Executive Director of Families USA, said today. “It would reduce the number of people who can’t afford health care, it will increase the number of jobs throughout the state, and it will strengthen the state’s economy.”

“There is no decision that Governor Tomblin will make during his tenure as Governor that will create more jobs or generate more economic activity than his decision to expand Medicaid,” said Perry Bryant, Executive Director of WVAHC. “This is a once in a lifetime opportunity to not only increase the health and well-being of West Virginians, but also to create more than 6,000 jobs and spur more than $600 million in needed economic activity.”

The report used 2016 as a model, its authors say, because, although Medicaid expansion funds will be available to states in 2014, it is expected to take time for enrollment to reach the level where the program’s full economic benefit is revealed.

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Families USA is the national organization for health care consumers. It is nonprofit and nonpartisan and advocates for high-quality, affordable health care for all Americans.

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