This report is meant to educate the policymakers in this county about the Medicaid program as the state is reconsidering participation in the program. This report looks at the state of the program in the state. It also looks at some of the reasons why this state opted out of this program and whether the state should get back into the program entirely or with restrictions. The report offers insights into the advantages and shortcomings of this program and whether it should be reinstated or not.
Current State of Medicaid
In the year 2012, the Supreme Court ruled the Affordable Care Act (ACA) unconstitutional. This allowed states to opt out of Medicaid expansion. This resulted in many states opting out, including the state of Texas. This is a decision that was met with a variety of criticisms and praises at the same time. At present, the state only offers Medicaid to pregnant women from low-income families, children from low-income families, parents with children in the program, and finally, people with disability. Since the decision to opt-out was made, healthcare within the state has become inaccessible in this state. More people need access to high-quality medical care within the state. It is, therefore, important that the state reinstates Medicaid. Statistics show that 32% of people between the ages of 19 and 34 are uninsured within this state, which is quite a high number, and this presents a risk in healthcare.
Why the States Opted out of Medicaid Expansion
The state failed to expand Medicaid because of the financial obligation. The federal government’s funding of Medicaid is expected to reduce over the years, and this creates more financial liability for the state to continue funding. The state needed to prepare to increase its spending on medical care. They, therefore, opted out and used the available funds from the federal government to offer Medicaid only to vulnerable groups, which are children from low-income families, pregnant women from low-income families, and people living with disability within the state. This action helped the state to avoid any financial liability within this program.
Reasons Why States Should Expand on Medicaid
The decision not to expand on Medicaid was not a great decision. It has locked many people from low-income households from accessing healthcare. This has increased the number of deaths from patients who cannot afford healthcare. These are patients whose lives could have been saved if they had access to medical care (Dean et al., 2020). The mortality rates have increased dramatically since the decision to opt-out was made. The mortality rates have greatly affected people with chronic illnesses such as cancer, diabetes, and hypertension, among other conditions that could be managed through better healthcare access. The state could really help to reduce suffering among the people if it made an effort to expand the Medicaid program.
The other reason why the state needs to opt in once again is to reduce the cases of poverty within the state. Failure to expand Medicaid has had the impact of increased poverty, especially among low-income families. Without health insurance, medical healthcare is quite expensive. Many uninsured in this community fall into unexpected illnesses, and as a result, they are strained by the little that they have to pay for the medical bills (Antonisse et al., 2018). This reduces them to remain in poverty since they are unable to make savings or any financial advancements. On the other hand, many others in low-income families strain their resources to pay for expensive health insurance, and this prevents them from financial growth and expansions. The rates of poverty within the state have increased drastically as a result of the decision to opt out of Medicaid.
Recommendations for Participation
When choosing to participate in Medicaid again, the state should consider doing this with specific regulations. These regulations should target the most vulnerable among the low-income families. This will help the state reduce suffering among people experiencing poverty and maintain its priority of minimizing its spending on Medicaid. The regulations should allow more spending on people with critical illnesses that are long-term and life-threatening and less spending on people with minor illnesses. These regulations will allow the program to benefit more people who need it the most. This will be helpful in making it less expensive and more impactful.
The other method of participation can be through premium support. This will help the beneficiaries of this system to shop for less expensive healthcare (Moffit, 2012). This will be important because there will be little spent, yet more people will be in a position to obtain quality healthcare among low-income communities. Premium support strategies will be important in improving Medicaid in this community.
Conclusion
Medicaid is an essential and helpful healthcare plan for society. It may not be mandatory, according to the court ruling in 2012, but it is beneficial to low-income communities. It allows people to access medical healthcare through coverage offered to them by the government. It reduces mortality rates among the people as a result of poverty and helps to reduce poverty levels among the people. There is a need for the state government to increase its support for Medicaid.
References
Antonisse, L., Garfield, R., Rudowitz, R., & Artiga, S. (2018). The effects of Medicaid expansion under the ACA: updated findings from a literature review. Published March.
Dean, C. A., Wiltshire, J., Liu, E., Amamoo, M. A., Garcia Colato, E., & Elder, K. (2020). Confidence in understanding health insurance and challenges paying medical bills among men in the United States. American Journal of Men’s Health, 14(4), 1557988320943359.
Moffit, R. E. (2012). Premium Support: Medicare’s Future and Its Critics. Washington, DC: Heritage Foundation.
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