Georgia can’t afford its share of ObamaCare
Back in July, Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen warned that his fellow Democrats’ health proposals would not only come with a trillion-dollar federal price tag. They would also represent “the mother of all unfunded mandates” for the states.
Now that the House has passed one health bill and the Senate Finance Committee another, Georgia’s number crunchers have estimated just how unfunded it would be for our state.
The answer: as much as $2.6 billion before 2020.
Two-point-six billion dollars, and in only five full years of spending. That’s under the bill passed in the House. The annual sum under that legislation would exceed half a billion dollars by 2019. (These and all other figures in this column, unless otherwise noted, come from the Department of Community Health.)
The Senate Finance Committee’s version would be little better: just over $2 billion cumulatively, and more than $400 million a year by 2019.
These figures represent only the state’s share of adding as many as 756,000 Georgians to Medicaid, which already serves one million state residents. Federal taxes would cover the vast majority of the new expenses.
Trillion may be the new billion in Washington, but down here even a measly million still means something. Georgia’s health-related budget for this fiscal year is already $3.5 billion, or one in five dollars the state government spends. So we’re talking about increasing health spending by at least 10 percent — or else cutting hundreds of millions of dollars from other health programs.
In absolute terms, we’re talking about adding about as much in health spending over five years as the state cut from last year’s total budget due to the recession. Another $900 million has been sliced from this year’s budget. The cuts would have been worse if not for federal stimulus money, which will run out long before a new Medicaid mandate hits.
All of this includes only those changes related to expanding Medicaid. New health laws could cost the state in ways that are less measurable for now, from increased insurance premiums for its own employees to the expense of running a new federally mandated insurance exchange.
Keep in mind, too, this phrase from DCH’s overview of the impact of expanding Medicaid: Both health proposals now before Congress “offer states a higher federal match at least initially to help pay for the medical costs of the newly eligible” people (emphasis added).
Translation: As Washington’s costs explode, Congress may try to shift more of the financial burden onto the states. As things stand, the Congressional Budget Office estimates that the House bill would cost state governments $34 billion in new Medicaid and State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) spending (see footnote “c” on page 12 of the linked PDF).
All in all, this presents a significant, perhaps impossible, challenge for Georgia.
And it gets worse. Congress is also contemplating some people-shuffling which would cost Georgia even more money. The House bill would move kids in poor families out of SCHIP and into Medicaid. Because the feds reimburse states for those programs at different rates, Georgia could lose up to $48 million a year in federal matching funds if that switch takes place.
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it now: We need to change our health-care system. The status quo works for many people. But even we, the relatively comfortable, have only tenuous security.
The “solutions” which Congress is now debating, however, fail on every level of logic, and for every level of government — and, by extension, taxpayer.
We can’t afford these plans. Scrap ’em. Start over.
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119 comments Add your comment
Repukes and DummyCrats are ALL Scum
November 23rd, 2009
9:30 am
RoyTheCrookBarnes GAVE 100 million Medicaid dollars to an out of state law firm in exchange for telling the State how to cheat the Feds out of the State’s cost share of Medicaid. The scam involved taxing all health care providers, but raising reimbursement rates for health care providers to cover the additional costs. Since the state only pays ~30% as their cost share, the state got back three dollars for each additional dollar raised via taxes, so they could afford to kickback one third to the providers. The key was to make the tax broad based to pass the stinking feds sniff test. For this small amount of information, which the state Medicaid people already knew, RoyTheCrook paid his out of state stinking lawyer cronies a 100 million dollar contingency fee. No federal state partnership can withstand the scheming of lying, cheating, scumbag lawyers. Put Roy in Federal prison for life, and maybe I will believe their is some justice in America, but until then I will oppose any and all DummyCrat proposals, including those supported by lying repukes. Hang all the GawdDamned Lawyers, hang em high, let the crows eat their eyes, that is my nightly prayer to Gawd.
Your morning jolt: Ground and air attacks in the ATL race for mayor | Political Insider
November 23rd, 2009
10:00 am
[...] Some opinion: Kyle Wingfield says Georgia can’t afford its share of ObamaCare. [...]
David Axelfraud
November 23rd, 2009
10:05 am
“It is true that democracy undermines freedom when voters believe they can live off of others’ productivity, when they modify the commandment: ‘Thou shalt not steal, except by majority vote.’ The politics of plunder is no doubt destructive of both morality and the division of labor.” -Gary North
“You cannot legislate the poor into freedom by legislating the wealthy out of freedom. What one person receives without working for, another person must work for without receiving. The government cannot give to anybody anything that the government does not first take from somebody else. When half of the people get the idea that they do not have to work because the other half is going to take care of them, and when the other half gets the idea that it does no good to work because somebody else is going to get what they work for, that is about the end of any nation. You cannot multiply wealth by dividing it.” -Dr. Adrian Rogers
Fix-It
November 23rd, 2009
10:52 am
Anybody who thinks that our government can run anything needs to be in a mental hospital. Any loser who believes that our “free healthcare” is free needs to put the bong down and get a job. All you losers who “think” government health care would be a good deal please feel free to go to any Euro Trash country and see why the citizens would rather be here. And for those who are so delusional that they believe this is even about healthcare, wake up idiots! This has nothing to do with healthcare and all to do with a power grab by the people who are drunk with power. If these government bureaucrats wanted to help people they would be concentrating on creating jobs, tort reform, gee has one dimacrat even uttered that word, and letting insurance carry across state lines to create completion. By the way didn’t Obozo say he would NOT sign any bill that is not revenue neutral, and no more earmarks, except for the 300 million dollar bride to get a dimacrat vote from Mississippi…? When are liberals going to wake up to ALL THE OBOZO LIES?
Libraryjim
November 23rd, 2009
10:58 am
Why do we need to overhaul the entire Health Insurance system in America, to cover 12 – 17 million (adjusting for those who can afford it choose not to have it, and those here illegally who were counted in the original numbers) who don’t have health insurance? Shouldn’t the reform just address doing that instead of meddling with a system in which 85% of those with insurance are satisfied with their coverage?
Marcos
November 23rd, 2009
12:19 pm
Well now we know how much a life costs to Republicans. We are 1st in the world in health care costs and 37th in quality of care. But I guess as long as you’ve got yours Kyle, uninsured Americans can do without. I wonder what you would do if you lost your insurance from the AJC. I wonder how much it would cost you to pay the insurance industry to over you and your family.
Gregg
November 23rd, 2009
12:24 pm
@ Kyle, you said “In absolute terms, we’re talking about adding about as much in health spending over five years as the state cut from last year’s total budget due to the recession. Another $900 million has been sliced from this year’s budget”.
Do you mean the for 5 years we can vover each and every LEGAL georgia resident just from what the state eliminated from JUST 1 years budget? So if the state can do without it, as it is proving, then why not funnel that money to cover the people who cannot afford it.
Gregg
November 23rd, 2009
12:29 pm
To any and everybody that talks about the Government can run anything, chew on this. Prostitution is not the oldest career, the Government actual is. I beg you to find anyother the company that has been around as long as the government. You belittle the government, yet you turn to them first and say that is why you pay taxes. Just becuase you don’t need them everyday, trust me they are there. They patrol your neighborhood while you sleep, they run into your house when it is on fire, the make corporations stop taking advantage of you and they do this with pennies from you. Let a private firm do what the government does and see how much you pay. Then and only then do you talk about capitalistic free market is better than government.
VV
November 23rd, 2009
12:37 pm
Gregg:
You hit the nail on the head.
Dearie Smith
November 23rd, 2009
1:08 pm
To MH Brown (12:35 pm), I would like to comment on the challenge you issed in your post ~ “This writer (Kyle) does not give us the points of reference, so his article is stupid, useless and unprofessional. Lastly, I have to say that I have had it with anyone who criticizes this plan without proposing an alternative. If you don’t have another idea, shut up!”.
Mr. Brown, I have yet to hear your response to Linda’s (1:39 pm) well thought out, logical alternatives that you challenges someone to produce. Linda’s postscript to you “P.S. We all have the same right to speak as you do.” was too gracious for me ~ I prefer ~ “Possibly you should be the one to “shut up”.
Keep up the good work Linda. I enjoy reading your posts.
Linda
November 23rd, 2009
3:07 pm
Gregg, the Government is not the Government.
The govt that “patrol your neighborhood…run into your house when it is on fire…” is our state & local govts. It’s the FEDERAL govt. that’s the prostitute. This is the whole point. We want our state & local govts to continue the great jobs they do & more power given to them & more power taken from DC, as outlined in the Constitution.
You said the fed govt makes “corporations stop taking advantage of you.” What the fed govt did was use your tax $ to bail out at least 20 large corporations that had failed, many of which congress members had stakes in. It’s corporate cronyism. One company bailed out was AIG which in turn bailed out other companies with your tax $. The fed govt decided who the winners & losers were. They decided that big corporations were more important than small businesses which employ over 70% of Americans. They bailed out the unions rather than non-union employees. Cutting executive pay for a few top executives was a smoke screen. As a matter of fact, someone added a stipulation in the economic stimulus bill passed in Feb. that allowed those exorbitant executive bonuses. Sen Chris Dodd originally lied about it before he finally admitted he was aware of it but still denies adding it.
The fed govt is full of corruption, fraud & waste. Ever looked at debtclock.com? They spend ever dime they tax, borrow what they can’t tax & print what they can’t borrow. All the $ you’ve paid in social security & Medicare is gone.
Name one think the fed govt has done that was efficient & effective & that didn’t cost 5 to 10 times more than they estimated.
Linda
November 23rd, 2009
3:08 pm
Dearie, I’m humbled by your statement.
dewstarpath
November 23rd, 2009
3:12 pm
- VV –
12:37 pm
– I second that (Gregg’s statement on government).
People like Fix-it need to fix themselves first. Get
their OWN house in order before they criticize
someone else (with so much bias it’s like a comedy
routine).
dewstarpath
November 23rd, 2009
3:13 pm
- VV –
12:37 pm
– I second that motion (Gregg’s post on government).
dewstarpath
November 23rd, 2009
3:16 pm
- People like Fix-it need to fix themselves first.
Get their OWN house in order before they criticize
others (with so much bias it’s like a comedy routine).
No partisanship here. Just quick and absolute
judgement.
Robert
November 24th, 2009
7:28 pm
Has anyone noticed how the democrats like to imply that if you don’t go along with their idea of healthcare reform, then you must be against reform? They try to portray those with different opinions as someone who doesn’t believe healthcare should be for for everyone. It’s funny to me how their plans would result in 96% coverage for all (including illegal aliens). When did 96% coverage equate to healthcare for ALL? It must be that fuzzy math again.
Dave
December 26th, 2009
7:01 pm
Rachel, the bill was $5000 because you had insurance. The hospital reams the insurance company to offset the cost of treating all those people in the emergency room that don’t have insurance because the FedGov says they have to treat them, but provides no money for it, so they get the money where they can….your insurance company, hence, the $20 Tylenol.
Obamacare is just another welfare program for the same class of loafers that every other program is for (and the AJC’s core reader group, the gimme gimme crowd), nothing more. Certain Cynthia Tuckers never seem to mention that the ObamaCare taxes start immediately, but there are no benefits “paid” for 4 years! You mark my words, by the time ObamaCare kicks in, the Democrats in congress will have spent that money on something else and surely equally ridiculous, and ObamaCare will START in the red, and they will want to raise taxes again for “the poor”.
“The poor” are getting tiresome. Maybe just once, the “poor” can get off their butts and do something productive. You can’t even get them to pick up trash or clean up in their “communities” in exchange for their benefits, they refuse because they have no pride, because they don’t own anything or earn anything, and many of them have never earned anything in their entire lives, it is always given to them with nothing given in exchange. It will be bad for them soon, there is no more juice that can be squeezed from the taxpayer turnip.
I’m sure they will blame racism when it happens.
furloughed
December 27th, 2009
6:54 am
I know who will pay for this ObamaCare — all of us State employees who are already paying with furlough days. The State is cutting everywhere it can and then the Democrats add this for State employees to fund with their paychecks. I don’t like the idea of my paycheck being cut to fund healthcare, but where else is it going to come from? I just hope I can retire when I’m eligible. But then the Democrats will probably want to cut our retirement benefits in order to pay for it. I just can’t win.
Laila
December 27th, 2009
8:37 am
Ummm, screw the constitution’s 10th amendment, screw the left vs right debate …. this is about LIFE!! If we used the 10th amendment to justify everything, how about we opt out of paying federal taxes!! Or receiving federal Medicaid funding at all, therefore NOONE GETS IT? It’s too expensive right, so it’d only be fair if no-one got it. Umm, NO! Because G-MA,
THERE IS NO VALUE THAT CAN BE PUT ON LIFE!! People are so selfish. Tell Sonny to add on an extra penny to the sales tax & get over it!