The Affordable Care Act’s enhancement of access to health insurance, whether through Medicaid expansion or the subsidization of insurance premiums for working-class and some middle-class Americans, has improved the financial health of hospitals.
Especially hospitals in Medicaid expansion states.
According to a new report from the Urban Institute,
Using data through fiscal year 2015, this new analysis finds that the Medicaid expansion under the ACA increased Medicaid revenue by $5.0 million per hospital, reduced costs of uncompensated care by $3.2 million per hospital, and improved average operating margins by 2.5 percentage points. This study also finds that the financial benefits of the Medicaid expansion on hospitals’ profit margins were strongest for small hospitals, for-profit and non-federal-government-operated hospitals, and hospitals located in nonmetropolitan areas.
To learn more, go here to find the new Urban Institute report “How Has the ACA Changed Finances for Different Types of Hospitals? Updated Insights from 2015 Cost Report Data.”