Medicaid expansion would bring huge economic and governmental revenue benefits to Georgia, studies show.
Gov. Nathan Deal in the recent debate in Perry said that Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act would cost the state $2.5 billion over the next 10 years. However, the studies show that the cost would be much less because of federal dollars received and increased revenues spurred by the expansion. The action would bring Georgia thousands of new jobs, improve health care and boost local revenues, the studies found.
“The bottom line is that the benefit of Medicaid expansion outweighs costs,” said Georgia State economist Dr. William Custer, author of a 2013 study that showed the expansion would add billions a year to statewide economic output. “It’s pretty clear that the benefits to the state of Georgia are pretty large and widespread.”
In contrast to Deal’s figures, the Medicaid expansion would cost the state around $350 million over the next 10 years, according to Tim Sweeney, director of health policy for the Georgia Budget and Policy Institute.
Sweeney in a fact sheet said the state would receive more than $33 billion of new federal funding over the next decade under the expansion, generating about $1.8 billion in state revenue from resulting economic growth, according to forecasts from Deal’s office and Custer’s study.
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