In upholding Democrats’ mandate that all Americans must have health insurance or pay a “tax” to the federal government, the U.S. Supreme Court also said states may opt out of expanding Medicaid coverage without fear of retribution from the feds.
Bloomberg reported Thursday that governors in at least 26 states — 23 Republicans and three Democrats — say they are reviewing the decision, apparently considering saying the one word politicians seem unable to say — no.
West Virginia is among the states reviewing its options, Bloomberg said.
Amid all the emotional pleas to give all Americans not just health care but health insurance, state leaders must consider the facts:
• Overall Medicaid spending in West Virginia, including federal money, was $2.55 billion in 2010.
• About 400,000 West Virginians are eligible for Medicaid under current rules. “Obamacare” would expand eligibility by 23.9 percent in two years, making 96,000 more people eligible.
• This expansion of Medicaid would add $166 million to those state costs in the first six years.
• Medicaid cost the state $439 million in 2010, the latest year for which figures are available. Even if the state kept the current eligibility rules and health care costs did not rise, its taxpayers would spend more than $4 billion on Medicaid over the next 10 years.
• Even before expansion, increases in Medicaid spending averaged 5.5 percent per year from 2007 to 2010, again the latest figures available.
• In the year ended on June 30, state revenues overall rose by 1 percent.
In addition, the state Public Employees Insurance Agency will have to come up with another $38 million a year beginning in 2014 to cover the additional coverage mandated by Democrats in the nation’s capital.
Furthermore, Deputy Revenue Secretary Mark Muchow said Wednesday that next winter, legislators may be staring at a shortfall of $389 million in revenues. That is equal to nearly half the money the state has set aside in the Rainy Day Fund and another emergency fund.
“We may have to get more conservative next winter,” Muchow told Mannix Porterfield of The Register-Herald in Beckley.
The demand for public funding for “free” stuff is infinite. The supply of taxpayer money is not.
Tough decisions lie ahead. Legislators must act on the basis of facts, not wishful thinking.
— Charleston Daily Mail
This editorial does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the Times West Virginian editorial board.
Opinion
Facts, not emotion: Can West Virginia afford to expand Medicaid program?
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