States refusing to expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act will lose more than $35 billion collectively in federal funds by 2022, and cost their taxpaying citizens more. That’s from a new report from the Commonwealth Fund, Not expanding Medicaid is not a rational decision for any state. But there are some very big losers: Texas ($9.6 billion), Florida ($5 billion), Georgia ($2.9 billion), Virginia ($2.8 billion) and North Carolina ($2.6 billion). The citizens of those states will continue to “bear a significant share of the overall cost of the expansion through federal tax payments,” the report says, while they will “not enjoy any of the benefits.”
So red state residents are paying the federal taxes that help support Medicaid expansion everywhere but at home. More than that, they’re losing the community hospitals that they rely on for timely medical care, especially in emergencies.
All because the Republican governors of these states are afraid of the GOP presidential primary. They’re cowards who are hurting people for no good reason, because the GOP base is insane.
(via Daily Kos: States not expanding Medicaid set to lose billions)
