Benefits of Medicaid Expansion in Florida

Benefits of Medicaid Expansion in Florida Expanding Medicaid increases access to affordable health care, improves health and financial security for families, and positively impacts state and local economies. For Florida, expanding Medicaid makes sense on all levels — the state’s fiscal health, the productivity of Florida's workforce, and the physical and mental health of families, friends and neighbors.

Medicaid expansion would result in $200 million in state budget savings. Thirty-six states have expanded Medicaid to cover adults with household income up to 138 percent of the federal poverty level (FPL), or $29,435 for a family of three. FPI’s analysis shows that if Florida followed suit, the state would see net budget savings of roughly $200 million in fiscal year 2022-23.

FPI’s estimate is based, in part, on projections from the Florida Office of Economic and Demographic Research and data from the experience of other Medicaid expansion states. By expanding Medicaid, Florida would be able to access more federal dollars to expand access to critical services. Florida currently receives a 61 percent federal match rate for state dollars spent on Medicaid. By expanding the program to adults with household income up to 138 percent of the FPL, Florida could access a 90 percent federal match rate under the Affordable Care Act. That’s $9 of federal monies for every $1 the state invests in expansion.

Florida Medicaid coverage groups that would benefit from higher federal match rates include the medically needy, pregnant women and adults with disabilities. In addition, federal dollars could replace millions of state dollars currently spent on mental health and substance abuse services, inmate hospital care and state and local dollars spent for uncompensated care.

Medicaid expansion not only benefits the state budget, but also the pocketbooks of hardworking Floridians National comparisons have found that the cost of health insurance premiums in expansion states was about 7 to 11 percent lower than non-expansion states. Medicaid expansion saves lives. A recent study projects that there are 674 "excessive deaths" annually in Florida for persons ages 55 to 64 who are at or below 138 percent of the FPL, which would have been averted with expansion.