Consultant pegs Medicaid expansion cost at $800M-plus over 10 years
A Rhode Island consultant hired by the state to evaluate expanding Medicaid in Maine under the Affordable Care Act puts the cost at more than $800 million over the first 10 years, according to a report by the Maine Public Broadcasting Network.
Released Friday, the Alexander Group’s report states that Maine had 24.7% of its overall state population enrolled in MaineCare, the name given to the state’s Medicaid program, in fiscal 2012-13. If the state does nothing, the report stated, MaineCare enrollment is expected to grow from 318,000 to approximately 382,000 over the next 10 years.
Under the expansion scenario that would occur if Maine were to provide health care coverage for everyone under the income threshold of 138% of the federal poverty level, as allowed under the ACA, the consultant projects 37.9% of the overall state population will be enrolled in Medicaid.
“Given current trends, MaineCare will comprise larger shares of Maine’s General Fund budgets,” the report stated. “Expanding eligibility will only exacerbate the trend, whereby MaineCare will comprise 38.7% of the General Fund budget in 10 years.”
Democrats in the Legislature characterized the report, completed under a no-bid contract by Gary Anderson, a Republican who introduced welfare cuts when he was a commissioner in Pennsylvania, as “politically driven.”
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