As Obama states during a speech in Congress this week that Medicaid is “not in crisis,” North Dakota’s medicare expansion has now come in $5.3 million over budget. The Department of Health & Human Services says “actual health care costs are higher than forecast when the state opted to expand the health program for the poor in 2013.” Based on current projections, North Dakota could be spending $30 million per year on the system by 2020. The state’s governor Jack Dalrymple stands by the decision to make the expansion, saying that while rising healthcare costs are a “concern,” the expansion is “fiscally manageable” and “the right thing to do.”
According to Town Hall’s Matt Vespa, allegations that the program is a “humanitarian catastrophe” are well-founded. A study by Forbes back in 2011 found that the uninsured fared better than those on Medicare, and the expansion of eligibility criteria now mean a large percentage of those being treated now are childless, able-bodied adults. The expansion of Medicare is such a budget guzzler that states are being forced to cut $2 to $3 from other areas of the budget to save a dollar in Medicaid spending.
In an address on August 1, which marked the 50th birthday of Medicaid, Obama addressed critics and said, despite increases in Medicare costs, his government had cut deficits by two-thirds since he took office. He also praised the Affordable Care Act and the savings it has passed on to patients, and the expansion of Medicaid to 12.8 million more Americans. However, about half of Americans simply don’t believe in the system. If you think North Dakota’s Medicaid expansion is another example of the system’s fatal flaws, please Like and Share this post.
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