Report details Medicaid expansion impact

Jun. 26--HIGH POINT -- A report being released today on Medicaid expansion by a pair of Piedmont Triad foundations tallies the benefits that advocates say would accrue locally and statewide from greater enrollment in the health program.

Expanding Medicaid would bring $11.7 billion in additional federal dollars into the state during a three-year period, according to the study by the Greensboro-based Cone Health Foundation and the Winston-Salem-based Kate B. Reynolds Charitable Trust. Up to 634,000 more people would gain Medicaid coverage by the year 2022.

"The injection of billions of dollars into North Carolina's economy will spur business activity, which will in turn create more jobs. We estimate that 24,400 additional jobs would be created in 2020, climbing to 37,200 more jobs in 2022," the researchers conclude.

In the greater High Point area, expanding Medicaid would spur $851 million in investment and create 3,776 jobs, as well as provide health care coverage to an additional 55,906 people in a three-county region. The numbers cover the expected impact in Guilford, Randolph and Davidson counties.

"This report confirms what we're hearing from families across the state -- increased access to quality health care and economic opportunities helps communities thrive, and research shows that expanding Medicaid delivers both," said Dr. Laura Gerald, president of the Kate B. Reynolds Charitable Trust. "Every community stands to benefit from Medicaid expansion."

The debate over whether to expand Medicaid has become front and center in the state budget negotiations between Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper and Republican leaders of the N.C. General Assembly. The governor has pushed to have Medicaid expansion as part of the budget, but GOP legislative leaders have resisted.

In an announcement Tuesday updating their budget deliberations, GOP legislative leaders expressed willingness to hold a special legislative session this fall to discuss health care access, including Medicaid expansion, to promote a full and open discussion.

Republicans in the General Assembly argue that Medicaid expansion could become a financial house of cards for the state if federal support of the program wanes in later years.

Senate President Pro Tem Phil Berger Sr., R-Rockingham, has said that changes in federal support of another program -- children's health insurance -- show what could be in store with Medicaid. The state faces coming up with an additional $140 million to continue the children's health insurance program because of shifting federal reimbursements, Berger has said.

House Speaker Tim Moore, R-Cleveland, has said that future lower reimbursements from the federal government on Medicaid could sap or overwhelm the budget surpluses built up during Republican stewardship of the General Assembly this decade.

But the authors of the Medicaid impact study being unveiled today contend that the opportunities are worth the chance of expansion.

"Medicaid expansion is a job creator and can extend health coverage to thousands of previously uninsured North Carolinians who are falling through the gaps in our current system," said Susan Shumaker, president of the Cone Health Foundation.

pjohnson@hpenews.com -- 336-888-3528 -- @HPEpaul

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