Commentary: Local benefits of Medicaid expansion

The cost of Medicaid expansion in Georgia has been estimated at $2 billion to $4.5 billion over 10 years.

But no publicly available study has been done on the potential savings to the state if it expands Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act.

A Georgia Health News article recently pointed to potential savings in such areas as mental health spending.

Now, in a new GHN Commentary, Jack Bernard, a longtime health care executive and a former Jasper County commissioner, looks at how expansion may save money for Georgia counties.

Many hospitals, Bernard writes, “will need even more money from local property taxes if Medicaid is not expanded.”

Here is a link to his Commentary.

Georgia Health News welcomes Commentary submissions. If you would like to propose a Commentary piece for Georgia Health News, please email Andy Miller, editor of GHN, at amiller@georgiahealthnews.com