The to hospitals uncompensated was reduced by an estimated $7.4 billion in 2014, according to the Department and Human Services.
The agency also found that expansion under the Act had a positive economic impact in the states that participated in the expansion; in Kentucky alone the economic benefit was estimated at over $0 million and 12,000 in 2014.
The reduction in uncompensated – the by hospitals to patients who are or underinsured – was over $50 billion in 2013, HHS said. The reduced this by $7.4 billion in 2014, the agency estimates. That includes a $5.5 billion reduction in charity , and $1.9 billion less bad debt.
the total reduction, $5 billion was in states that expanded their programs, while $2.4 billion was saved in non-expansion states.
The HHS review the economic impact expansion looked at the ’s effect in the 28 states and the District Columbia that took advantage the federal government’s 100% the expanding through 2016, decreasing to % by 2020.
The financial impact low-income families makes the third-largest poverty-reducing in the country, and the second-largest in reducing the rate Americans in extreme poverty, HHS said.
A 10-state study found that the expansion was financially advantageous in each the states, while states that chose not to expand their programs will forego $88 billion in federal funding from 2014-2016, and will reduce their economic output by approximately $66 billion through 2017.
In Oregon, expansion has resulted in a 25% decline in the likelihood an unpaid medical bill being sent to a collection agency, according to HHS, and “almost eliminated catastrophic out--pocket medical costs,” which are a frequent cause bankruptcy.
Kentucky, the first state to release a post-expansion economic impact study, estimated the economic contribution at $.1 billion from 2014 to 2021. In 2014 the net positive impact on the state was $919.1 million, with 12,000 new ; by 2021, some 40,000 new will be created, the Kentucky study estimates.