- State could see savings with expanded Medicaid, By Martha Stoddard, November 28, 2012, Omaha World-Herald: “Expanding Medicaid to cover all low-income Nebraskans could produce savings — not just costs — for the state, according to a national expert. Joy Johnson Wilson, health policy director for the National Conference of State Legislatures, said Tuesday that states should take a closer look at the potential impact of the expansion that was authorized by the federal health care overhaul law. Early studies of the impact looked primarily at the cost of adding people to state Medicaid rolls, Wilson said…”
- Report: Medicaid expansion would bring state more than $30 billion, By Misty Williams, November 30, 2012, Atlanta Journal-Constitution: “Expanding Georgia’s massive Medicaid health care program would cost the state roughly $2.5 billion over a decade, while providing half a million poor, uninsured Georgians with coverage, a new study estimates. Under a Medicaid expansion — a pillar of the Affordable Care Act — the federal government would pay 100 percent of the costs for newly eligible enrollees the first few years, though that would later fall to 90 percent. The result: more than $33 billion in new federal money would flood into Georgia over a 10-year period, according to the study released Monday by the nonprofit Kaiser Family Foundation…”
- Study: Michigan may pay $1.7B for Medicaid, but could get $16B in fed funds, By Karen Bouffard, November 28, 2012, Detroit News: “The optional Medicaid expansion available to states under the federal Affordable Care Act would cost Michigan about $1.7 billion more for the program over 10 years, but would draw down roughly $16 billion in additional federal Medicaid funding, according to a study by the Kaiser Family Foundation. The report by the nonpartisan group showed modest state costs for implementing the Medicaid expansion compared to significant increases in federal funds while millions of low-income uninsured Americans would gain health coverage…”
- Nixon favors expanding Medicaid program, By Elizabeth Crisp, November 29, 2012, St. Louis Post-Dispatch: “Gov. Jay Nixon wants to expand Missouri’s Medicaid program to provide health care coverage to some 220,000 uninsured adults in the state. ‘As governor I have both the opportunity and obligation to keep Missouri moving forward,’ he told reporters in a conference call this morning. ‘It is the smart thing to do and it is the right thing to do.’ Nixon said he will put the expansion — which will be fully funded by the federal government for the first three years under the Affordable Care Act — in the state budget proposal he submits to lawmakers, but the move puts him at odds with Republican legislative leaders, who have said that the state can’t afford the long-term costs of expanding the program…”
Month: November 2012
Extension of Jobless Benefits
- Report: Extending long-term unemployment benefits would create 300,000 jobs, Associated Press, November 29, 2012, Washington Post: “Extending the current level of long-term unemployment benefits for another year would add 300,000 jobs to the economy, according to a report from the Congressional Budget Office. The analysis released Wednesday from the nonpartisan office estimates that keeping jobless benefits would cost the government $30 billion. But it would also lead to more spending by the unemployed, boosting demand for goods and services and creating new jobs. Federal long-term unemployment benefits are set to expire on Dec. 29 for more than 2 million workers unless Congress approves an extension…”
- Unemployment benefits cost: $520 billion, By Tami Luhby, November 29, 2012, CNNMoney: “Jobless Americans have collected more than half a trillion dollars in benefits over the past five years. State and federal unemployment insurance programs have cost roughly $520 billion, according to a Congressional Budget Office report released Wednesday. The price of continuing this safety net will be the subject of intense debate in Congress as lawmakers decide whether to extend the deadline to file for federal benefits beyond year’s end as part of the fiscal cliff negotiations. Extending federal jobless insurance next year could cost as much as $30 billion, according to the CBO analysis…”
Euro Zone Unemployment
Unemployment in euro zone rises to a new high, By David Jolly and Jack Ewing, November 30, 2012, New York Times: “Unemployment in the euro zone rose to a new high in October, according to official data released Friday. But the head of the European Central Bank tempered the bad news by predicting that the region’s economy would begin to recover next year. Mario Draghi, the E.C.B. president, cautioned that, ‘We haven’t gotten out of the crisis yet.’ But he told Europe 1 radio in Paris, ‘The recovery for the entire euro zone will no doubt begin in the second half of 2013.’ That was a firmer forecast than Mr. Draghi gave earlier last month, when he said only that growth next year would be weak. And it came as separate data indicated that inflation continued to fall, giving the E.C.B. more leeway to pump cash into the economy if needed…”