OBAMACARE WILL COST HAWAII MILLIONS
News Release from www.GOPHawaii.com
The Hawaii Republican Party shared the following information regarding a new Congressional Budget Office report about Obamacare.
The healthcare reform bill passed last year will cost states at least an additional $118.04 billion through 2023 due to their increased Medicaid costs, according to a new congressional report. Hawai'i's cost will be $30 million between 2014 and 2019.
The national figure is nearly double the Congressional Budget Office's recent estimate of $60 billion through 2021.
“The enactment of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act in March 2010 was the largest expansion of [Medicaid] since its inception more than 45 years ago,” according to a statement from the House Energy and Commerce Committee and the Senate Finance Committee, which jointly produced the report.
“Half of those obtaining healthcare coverage under the new law will get it through Medicaid. The committee report provides a state-by-state analysis (see Hawai'i below) of the financial impact the new healthcare law will have on states and demonstrates the unsustainable fiscal burden this new law will foist upon taxpayers.”
The joint congressional report “is the first to provide a comprehensive overview of state government estimates regarding the cost of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to state Medicaid programs,” the report states.
Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah, the ranking Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, said: “Governors of both political parties were clear when Congress was debating the $2.6 trillion health law that they could not afford a massive expansion in Medicaid. Washington didn’t listen and plowed forward instead by putting 16 million Americans onto the Medicaid rolls to keep the federal price tag down. With this report, we see the true cost to states, who are already facing a collective $175 billion budget shortfall, of this unsustainable expansion.”
The report’s state-by-state breakdown can be found by clicking here.
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From Report:
Hawaii (HI) Medicaid Coverage and Spending in Health Reform: National and State-by-State Results for Adults at or Below 133 percent FPL.
Kaiser Family Foundation/Urban Institute. May 2010. Available online at: http://www.kff.org/healthreform/8076.cfm
U.S. Health Care Bills Bad For Isles. Governor Linda Lingle in The Honolulu Advertiser. January 5, 2010. $30 million (2014-2019).
Governor Linda Lingle: "Both versions of health care reform would impose massive unfunded mandates on state governments. … If Congress forces Hawai’i to further increase Medicaid eligibility and benefits, we could only pay the bill by slashing other government programs or by raising taxes. Neither option is acceptable, in my opinion."
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