WASHINGTON — During Medicaid Awareness Month, it’s important to remember that there are still 10 states with Republican-led legislatures that refuse to fully expand Medicaid, leaving 1.5 million Americans uninsured and with worse health outcomes. Medicaid serves as a lifeline for millions of low-income and vulnerable Americans and reduces racial disparities in health care coverage. It plays a pivotal role in determining the accessibility, location, and timing of medical care, while also mitigating the financial burden of medical expenses.
Despite the Affordable Care Act offering states the opportunity to expand Medicaid, these 10 Republican-led states continue to resist fully expanding this critical program. Republicans in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kansas, Mississippi, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Wisconsin, and Wyoming are leaving billions of federal dollars on the table, continue to lose funding for rural hospitals, and represent a broader GOP willingness to risk the lives of their constituents.
- Alabama grapples with one of the nation’s highest maternal mortality rates, but Republicans refuse to close the health care coverage gap for the nearly 300,000 Alabamians who would benefit from the critical investment offered by Medicaid expansion.
- The uninsured rate in Florida is a whopping 13.9 percent. Medicaid expansion would save lives – particularly given access to drug treatment covered by Medicaid would help lower opioid overdose death rates in Florida. During opening remarks on the first day of the legislative session, GOP Senate President Kathleen Passidomo squashed all hopes of Medicaid expansion, saying, “Medicaid expansion is not going to happen in Florida.”
- Georgia has one of the highest uninsured rates in the country. Fully expanding Medicaid would cover over 400,000 Georgians, including thousands of Black Georgians, as well as deliver billions in federal funding and create thousands of jobs each year. Republicans blocked efforts to fully expand Medicaid during this year’s session, forcing Georgians to wait even longer for necessary coverage. Georgia also ranks third in the nation for hospital closures.
- The Republican-controlled Kansas legislature has also refused to expand Medicaid, which would expand coverage to an additional 152,000 Kansans and unlock nearly $700 million in annual federal funding, helping rural hospitals stay open.
- Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves has reportedly pledged to oppose any Medicaid expansion deal proposed this legislative session, regardless of the risk to rural hospitals, 40% of which are at risk of closing.
- South Carolina’s uninsurance rate is higher than the national average, and thirty-eight percent of those uninsured are Black. If Republicans agreed to expand Medicaid, health coverage would be expanded to nearly 200,000 uninsured nonelderly adults in South Carolina.
- In Tennessee, Medicaid expansion would provide over 150,000 more residents with health coverage, reducing the state’s uninsured rate by 27 percent.
- Texas leads the nation in uninsured residents, a problem Medicaid expansion would help address. However, Republican legislators in Texas have refused to expand Medicaid, leaving nearly one million Texans without access to health insurance.
- Wisconsin Republican Assembly Speaker Robin Vos vowed last year that “Medicaid expansion will never happen” as long as he is the speaker. Medicaid expansion would bring $2 billion in federal funds and extend care to nearly 90,000 Wisconsinites.
- In Wyoming, Medicaid expansion would cover 19,000 additional people, but efforts to expand the program failed in the legislature this year, once again.
Republicans’ longstanding refusal to fully expand Medicaid encapsulates the importance of state legislative power. When Republicans hold power, they deny health care access for thousands and sometimes millions of their constituents in need. When Democrats are in power, they prioritize Medicaid expansion and health care investments that save lives.
Building Democratic power in the states is vital to ensuring essential health care is accessible and affordable.
Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee Communications Director Abhi Rahman issued the following statement:
“Republicans in state legislatures have obstructed health care access by refusing to fully expand Medicaid for over a decade. There’s no excuse for ten years of inaction when the results clearly show Medicaid reduces health care disparities and saves lives. The GOP is playing politics with people’s lives while leaving needed federal money on the table. That money could go to keeping rural hospitals open or better meeting the health care needs of the people in these states. Democrats in state legislatures understand these stakes, which is why they have worked to expand Medicaid and prioritize essential health care access. The DLCC will continue to highlight the deadly consequences of Republicans’ decade-long obstruction of Medicaid expansion as we work to build Democratic power in the states.”
The Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee (DLCC) is the official Democratic Party committee dedicated to winning America’s state legislatures and building state infrastructure. Over the last decade, we have fought cycle-over-cycle to gain a dozen new legislative chamber majorities and we are leading the effort to bring national attention and investment to our ballot level. State legislatures are the building blocks of our democracy and have the closest connections to Americans’ day-to-day lives. From protecting fundamental freedoms and voting rights to growing the middle class, the DLCC and state legislators are moving the Democratic agenda forward and shaping the future of this country.
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