The Effects Of Medicaid Expansion On The Uninsured Rate & Medicaid Costs

One of the major components of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) was the expansion of Medicaid to cover adults with income up to 133% of the federal poverty level (138% with the 5% income disregard). However, in 2012 the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that while Congress can expand Medicaid, it can’t deny existing Medicaid allotments to those states that choose to not participate in that expansion – meaning that there is no penalty for states that choose not to participate in Medicaid expansion. This decision has led to uneven adoption of Medicaid expansion, but also allowed . . .