5 Key Findings on Medicaid Expansion, Community Health Center Patients

A considerable number of community health center patients will remain uninsured under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act because of the 24 states that haven't expanded Medicaid, according to a report from The George Washington University.

As of March, District of Columbia and 26 states had decided to expand their Medicaid programs. Researchers at GWU's Milken Institute School of Public Health analyzed data from the Health Resources and Service Administration to estimate the number of patients at community health centers (nonprofit entities that provide care to medically underserved populations) expected to gain coverage under the PPACA. Here are five of their key findings.

1. Because 24 states hadn't expanded Medicaid as of March, nearly 1.1 million health center patients will remain uninsured under the PPACA.

2.  Approximately 71 percent of the health center patients that will remain uninsured because their states didn't expand Medicaid live in the South.

3. In 2014, health centers in states that didn't extend Medicaid eligibility will miss the opportunity to gain a combined total of $569 million in funding.

4. If all states expanded Medicaid, 5.2 million uninsured health center patients would be eligible for either Medicaid or subsidized health insurance coverage under the PPACA.

5. The non-expansion states' decision is expected to lead to higher uncompensated care costs as the uninsured population in those states increases. The number of uninsured community health center patients in the opt-out states grew by 4.1 percent from 2011 to 2012, according to the report.

More Articles on Medicaid Expansion:
4 Key Findings on the PPACA and Medicaid Enrollment
Medicaid Expansion Helps IASIS' Q2 Revenue Amidst Net Loss
3 Statistics Showing the Impact of Not Expanding Medicaid