Fierce Health Payers July 15, 2021
Turning to a public option to close the Medicaid coverage gap in nonexpansion states would reduce annual federal spending by billions compared to approaches using marketplace benchmark premiums, according to a new research brief out of the Urban Institute’s Health Policy Center.
Published Wednesday, the report estimated spending and coverage under three existing or “improved” subsidy schedules for those with Affordable Care Act (ACA) nongroup coverage.
The analysis found that expansion based on marketplace benchmark premiums would incur between $16.6 billion to $18.1 billion in 2022 and an estimated $199 billion to $217 billion over 10 years. However, a public option that typically pays Medicare rates would range from $11.4 billion to $12.3 billion for 2022 and an estimated $136...