Medicaid Expansion Population and Cost Estimates for Ten States

Even as most states have now expanded Medicaid eligibility as enabled by the Affordable Care Act, millions of people are still ineligible because they live in the ten states that have not.

If those remaining states move forward with expanding their Medicaid programs, the Public Policy Institute estimates that 6.9 million currently uninsured and low-income individuals aged 50 to 64 would be eligible for health coverage through Medicaid, with an average cost savings to each state of $1.9 billion in the first two years.

The fact sheets below break down the numbers on the people who would benefit and the dollars that would be saved by each of the ten states if they expanded Medicaid eligibility to their residents with incomes of up to 138 percent of the federal poverty level, or about $20,000 in annual income for an individual. North Carolina is also included since its expansion has not yet been implemented. Each provides a data thumbnail detailing:

1. The number of people who would become eligible for Medicaid under expansion
2. Key demographic characteristics
3. Potential cost savings for each state’s budget and for specific health care spending categories

• Alabama
• Florida
• Georgia
• Kansas
• Mississippi
• North Carolina
• South Carolina
• Tennessee
• Texas
• Wisconsin
• Wyoming