Why? When you FORCE some people into Medicaid, costs go up. When you give something to people, they say “Someone ELSE is paying for it? Fine!”. North Dakota did that…and now the expense to taxpayers is now becoming seen. And can you guess who (and which Party) is saddling the N.D. taxpayers with this (emphasis mine and reformatted):
Surprise! It seems the costs associated with the expansion of Medicaid in North Dakota are higher than what was originally projected. Yet, Republican North Dakota Gov. Jack Dalrymple’s decision to expand this awful government-run health care program that’s an integral part of Obamacare is a “win-win” for him, according to Say Anything’s Rob Port:
Yup, Republican! And wait – it gets better!
The feds are picking up the tab for this expansion through 2016, at which point the states begin to take over. By 2020 the plan is for North Dakota to be paying for 10 percent of this “no cost” program. Because of course there was always a cost to this. We, as federal taxpayers, have been picking up the tab the whole time. And starting in 2017 we’ll be picking up the cost as state taxpayers too.
If you listen to NH State Senate President Chuck Morse talk about this – he ALWAYS lies about this as he says that this isn’t costing NH Taxpayers anything to implement. Yeah, him too, NEVER talks about us as FEDERAL taxpayers. I said that to NH State Senator Jeb Bradley, to face – all I got in return was a scowl. Now, if only Morse, Bradley, Stiles, and the rest of the Republicans that voted for this DEMOCRAT program (again, a Jr. Democrat action) would only do what the REPUBLICAN Gov. of ND would do – I might even think it at least part way for being a good swap:
Probably good, if cynical, politics for Dalrymple though. In the short term he doesn’t have to fight a political battle over denying the expansion, and in the long term he’s not going to be in office when the bulk of these costs get dumped on the state.
Typical – not around to catch the heat the way he should. In the hospitality area, this is called a “chew and screw” – order, eat, and hightail it out before the bill arrives. You can end up in the local hoosegow. In politics, however, this is called “normal”.
Here are the costs of expansion (via AP):
North Dakota’s costs for expanding Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act are higher than had been projected. The Department of Human Services has revised its cost estimates from $2.9 million to $8.2 million for the 2017 fiscal year. The agency says actual health care costs are higher than forecast when the state opted to expand the health program for the poor in 2013.
A 280% increase over baseline. And Republicans keep saying they are business folks – the only ones getting the business is us.
I’ve got the info bookmarked around here somewhere but what was THOUGHT was going to happen is that these new “shoved” and enrolled Medicaid Expansion “beneficiaries” were going to cost LESS than those already on this program for the poor – instead, they are costing $1,000 MORE than those presently enrolled. I think I remember the number being 20% higher costs overall. What a way to run a program!
So, the NH State Republicans, who rail against poor roads and bridges just decided to spend the money otherwise. Ah, these magical nitwits – they aren’t that fast that we can’t see what been doing. True, we may not see it at the time, but we do find out in the end.
Because that’s where we get it – in the end. And boy, do we pay for it.
But remember, they will campaign as being the Party of lesser government and lesser taxes. And then do the opposite.
Again, they wonder why they have brought both us and Trump upon themselves?
UPDATE: I found it
Two dozen states immediately took the bait, lured by the promise the federal government would pay 100% of costs in the first three years and 90% for the newly eligible on into the future. Several more have joined since. An analysis by the Associated Press finds that this was short-sighted folly. At least 14 of these states have seen enrollment surge unexpectedly, forcing at least half to increase their cost estimates. And we’re not talking about a few percentage points.
Already the Expansion in NH is starting to explode in costs – and some Republicans want to go along with re-authorizing this? This shows an amazing lack of compassion of taxpayers.
• In Kentucky, more than twice as many signed up for Medicaid than the state had projected. That’s forced Kentucky to more than double its projected Medicaid costs for 2017.
• In California, almost 2.3 million enrolled — nearly triple what the state planned on. Today, 1 in 3 Californians are on Medicaid.
• In Ohio, Medicaid costs more than doubled after Republican Gov. John Kasich decided to expand the program, and Michigan’s shot up 50%, the AP reports.
Overall, Medicaid rolls climbed a stunning 28% in these expansion states. At the same time, these new enrollees are costing far more to treat than expected. Instead of costing slightly less than those currently on the program, new enrollees’ health costs were 19% higher, a government report found .
For the left, none of this really matters, since the goal all along has been to get as many people dependent on government for health care as possible. Which is why the Obama administration is busy putting increasing pressure on the holdout states to get in line. For those who thought expanding Medicaid would save states money, these developments should be deeply troubling.
Medicaid is already the single biggest program on state budgets, and its explosive growth has started to crowd out basic needs like education.
Like red-lined roads and bridges here in NH. Just tell them to stuff it when one of them tries to tell you that – just tell them they lack the political will to actually prioritize – that they’ve put themselves into this situation of Government making things worse and THEN they have the gall to say that only Government can solve this problem (that they made in the first place).
