Illinois Moving Closer To Medicaid Expansion
The Illinois Senate has passed along party lines a bill to expand Medicaid coverage under the auspices of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, while redder Midwest states such as Nebraska continue to struggle with the issue.
The Illinois Senate passed the bill by a 40-19 margin earlier this week. All 40 supporters were Democrats, while the 19 naysayers were Republicans. The bill has gone to the Illinois House of Representatives, which given its Democratic majority, is expected to pass it.
Gov. Pat Quinn, also a Democrat, has indicated that he would sign the bill if it reached his desk. “Access to quality health care is a fundamental right,” he said in a statement, noting that Medicaid expansion would “improve the health of hundreds of thousands of people across Illinois, strengthen our healthcare system and create thousands of good jobs in the healthcare field.”
An estimated 342,000 Illinois residents would be eligible for expanded Medicaid coverage, which would raise the income limits to 138% of the federal poverty level, which is just under $30,000 for a family of four.
The economic argument for expanding Medicaid coverage has been pushed by hospital associations in more conservative states such as Kansas, where the state hospital association recently released a detailed report conducted by an independent economist assessing the issue.
Healthcare lobbies in the Cornhusker State has made a similar argument: According to a video released last month by the Nebraska Hospital Association, each dollar spent on Medicaid has a multiplier effect of creating seven additional dollars.
“My personal belief is, let's get everybody into the system and then let's begin to look at the issues of costs and how we're going to take care of those issues,” said Rowen Zetterman, M.D., president of the Nebraska Medical Association, when he testified in front of a legislative committee last week. A bill in the Legislature would expand the Medicaid program along lines similar to what is being hammered out in Illinois.
According to studies, about 58,000 Nebraskans would be eligible for coverage under expansion, and another 21,000 currently eligible but not participating would likely enroll.
However, the conservative state has been divided by the issue. The state's GOP Gov. Dave Heineman has insisted that he is opposed to expansion, saying it would cost too much.
Under the ACA, the federal government would pay 100% of the cost of expanding Medicaid for the first three years, and 90% after that.
