Ohio Medicaid Expansion Costs Skyrocket 60% Above Projections

As Gov. McCrory continues to leave the door open to possible Medicaid expansion – albeit thru a “North Carolina plan”, not a “Washington plan” – state leaders can learn from the state of Ohio’s Medicaid expansion. As reported at OhioWatchdog.org:

Expanding Medicaid to working-age Ohioans with no kids and no disabilities was supposed to cost $2.56 billion in its first year and a half.

So much for that.

Kasich underestimated the cost of the first 18 months of his Obamacare expansion by roughly $1.5 billion. Enrollment was almost 600,000 at the end of June, compared to Kasich’s projection of 366,000.

Ohio’s Obamacare expansion has cost far more than expected because enrollment and per-member costs have both rocketed past expectations.

 

 

 

North Carolina’s Medicaid program has been plagued with billions of dollars of cost overruns over the last several years, accepting Medicaid expansion would blow a bigger hole in the state budget while cramming hundreds of thousands of people into an already overcrowded system, condemning them to little to no access to care.