There are some 400,000 people living without health insurance because they can't afford it in the three states that have Medicaid expansion on their ballot for the first time this fall. Those 400,000 people would qualify for Medicaid expansion, if the voters in these states approve it. If those states—and if every state in the country that hasn't expanded—did so, 14,000 lives could be saved every year.
That's according to new analysis from the Center for American Progress, looking at data from the states that have already expanded. Here's the numbers they estimate, from the results we've seen so far in the more than 30 states that have expanded Medicaid.
- Additional lives saved per year: 14,361
- Additional infant lives saved per year: 141
- Additional early-stage cancer diagnoses per year: 5,034
- Reduction in uninsured opioid-related hospitalizations per year: 17,577
- Additional bankruptcies prevented per year: 1,517
- Reduction in families’ accrued medical debt: $6.8 billion
- Money kept in families’ pockets from less costly credit per year: $2.1 billion
- Savings to communities from enhanced public safety per year: $7.7 billion
"These new estimates underscore the lifesaving effects of Medicaid expansion and its role in combating some of the nation's most deadly health crises," the report's authors say. "The estimates also demonstrate the extent to which expanding Medicaid in remaining states would reduce bankruptcies, enhance public safety, keep money in families' pockets, and more."
There's the chance to expand it this year directly in Idaho, Nebraska, and Utah and to make sure it continues in Montana. It's on the ballot in initiative form this fall. There are three governors’ races that could expand it in another three—in Florida, with Andrew Gillum, in Georgia with Stacey Abrams, and in Wisconsin with Tony Evers. Flipping those seats to Democrats would make all the difference for hundreds of thousands of people's lives.
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