Tennessee could gain 43,200 jobs, $2.9 billion of personal income by expanding Medicaid
Republican-led legislature refuses to accept billions to insure working families
NASHVILLE, TN — A new study from researchers at George Washington University and the Commonwealth Fund details the enormous economic benefits states are forfeiting by refusing to expand Medicaid. Overall, the states where Republican leaders continue to oppose the policy are missing out on $49 billion in federal spending.
The study estimates that expanding Medicaid in Tennessee would create over 43,200 jobs, grow the state’s economic output by $8 billion and increase personal income by $2.9 billion.
Sen. Raumesh Akbari, the chairwoman of the Senate Democratic Caucus, reacted to the research.
“Every person should be able to go to the doctor or take their kid to a hospital without worrying about how they’ll pay the bill,” Sen. Akbari said. “This study shows it is time to empower TennCare to cover low-income families and accept billions worth of our own tax dollars to expand our economy and grow good-paying jobs.”
Health coverage for people who work
Under the Affordable Care Act of 2010, the federal government will pay 9:1 for states to offer Medicaid health coverage, TennCare in Tennessee, to working adults — up to age 65 — with incomes at or below 138 percent of the federal poverty level ($30,305 for a family of three in 2021).
The new study estimates 339,000 working adults in Tennessee would gain health coverage under expansion.
These new paying customers would be a boon to Tennessee’s ailing hospitals. Since 2010, Tennessee has had the highest number of hospital closures per population and 75 percent of the state’s remaining essential access rural hospitals are at high risk of closure, according the Tennessee Health Care Campaign.
The American Rescue Plan Act, passed in March, sweetened the expansion deal offering the 14 holdout states billions more to expand health coverage to low-wage workers who are not offered insurance at work.
Despite the new incentives included as a part of the American Rescue Plan Act and the devastating need for health coverage in Tennessee, Republican leaders have stood against Medicaid expansion.
In April, Republican members of a House subcommittee killed another expansion measure sponsored by Sen. Jeff Yarbro and Rep. Larry Miller. Under House Bill 736, Gov. Bill Lee would have been authorized to begin negotiating Medicaid expansion without legislative approval.
The bill failed on a voice vote.
