Under the Affordable Care Act, Florida would have been eligible for 51 billion federal dollars to offer Medicaid to more people. But Florida politicians have declined expanding Medicaid, saying the state's contribution would lead to too much spending.
Now, according to the journal Health Affairs, Florida is leaving behind more than the money.The authors of the analysis started with how many people would be eligible for Medicaid if the state took the money and let more people in. Then, they looked at some pretty well-respected research on how access to Medicaid influences illness and death rates. Using those numbers, the authors estimated how many illnesses would be prevented if Florida expanded Medicaid
What they found? Nearly 70,000 uninsured people with diabetes would have gotten medication.
There would be 100,000 fewer Floridians with depression, and an additional 74,000 women would get a recommended pap smear.
The authors also estimated how many deaths would be prevented if Medicaid was expanded to more Floridians in poverty. The low estimate was 1,000. The high estimate was 2,000 lives saved.