The Pennsylvania Health Law Project has released a report detailing how Pennsylvania can save $400 million per year if lawmakers say yes to accepting federal funds to expand Medicaid to over 600,000 adults. Their analysis, entitled “Expanding Medicaid in PA: Consider the Savings,” is the first of a series created to ensure that policymakers understand the potential benefits of expanding Medicaid’s income eligibility.

The potential savings includes $230 million per year – currently spent by the state on General Assistance related costs- that will be replaced by federal Medicaid dollars. “Expanding Medicaid is a good policy and makes good budgetary sense because it generates significant new revenues and savings,” stated Laval Miller-Wilson, Executive Director of the Pennslyvania Health Law Project.

States such as Arkansas, Idaho, and Maryland have adopted the Medicaid expansion because of these savings. A study conducted by Georgetown University estimates that Florida will save $100 million per year under the new expansion (even after the federal government’s coverage of the costs reduces to 90%). If Pennsylvania does not accept Medicaid expansion, it will not only forgo these savings, but it will, through federal tax dollars, have to help fund the states that do accept the expansion without receiving any of the benefits itself.

Read the full report here