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AP

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July 22, 2016 10:13 am

Obamacare’s Medicaid expansion enrollees cost 49 percent higher than what was projected one year ago, Forbes reported.

According to a report from the Department of Health and Human Services, the agency found that these enrollees cost an average of $6,366 in fiscal year 2015, up from $4,281 that was projected in last year’s report.

“The magnitude of HHS’ error reveals a major flaw in the government’s ability to estimate the ACA’s costs, and worse, that the actual costs of the ACA’s Medicaid expansion appear much higher than expected,” the article states.

“HHS’ financial and actuarial experts projected that adult Medicaid enrollees made eligible by the ACA would be 30% less costly than previously eligible adults enrolled in Medicaid,” the report explains. “Apparently, their models did not account for states responding to the incentive of the elevated reimbursement rate to spend freely.”

The report also found that Medicaid expansion spending is up from previous years. “In the 2015 report, HHS indicated that Medicaid spending reached $554.3 billion in FY 2015—5% higher than its projection ($529.0 billion) for FY 2015 from the previous year’s report and 12.1% above FY 2014 spending,” the article states.

Report: Medicaid Enrollees Cost 49% More Than Previously Expected
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