WASHINGTON, DC-On the five-year anniversary of the signing of the Affordable Care Act, HHS is announcing that as a result of Marketplace coverage and Medicaid expansion, hospital uncompensated care costs were reduced by an estimated $7.4 billion in 2014, compared to what they would have been in the absence of the coverage expansion. Based on this analysis, Medicaid expansion states account for an estimated $5 billion of that reduction.
Here is a link to an additional report detailing the ways Medicaid expansion is benefiting states both directly and indirectly by generating additional federal revenue, increasing jobs and earnings, increasing Gross State Product (GSP), increasing state and local revenues (via additional provider taxes and fees and increased prescription drug rebates), and reducing uncompensated care and hospital costs.
INSURANCE EXPANSION, HOSPITAL UNCOMPENSATED CARE, AND THE 
AFFORDABLE CARE ACT
March 23, 2015
Hospital Uncompensated Care – Uncompensated care is the unreimbursed cost of the care provided by hospitals to people who are uninsured or underinsured. Hospitals provided over $50 billion in uncompensated care in 2013. By greatly reducing the numbers of Americans who are uninsured through the establishment of the Health Insurance Marketplace and by facilitating States’ expansions of Medicaid, the Affordable Care Act has reduced hospitals’ uncompensated care costs.
Medicaid Expansion –Analysis of hospital financial reporting and member surveys from hospital associations indicates that, through 2014, payor mix is shifting in ways that will likely reduce hospital uncompensated care costs. Moreover, a projection model developed by ASPE suggests that the large observed declines in the uninsured and increases in Medicaid coverage have led to substantial declines in hospital uncompensated care in 2014. Medicaid expansion states account for $5 billion of the estimated $7.4 billion reduction in uncompensated care costs attributed to ACA coverage expansions.
MEDIA RELEASE/ U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
