The study found that emergency Medicaid spending represents less than 1% of program expenditures
Emergency Medicaid spending, an issue partly fueled by the ongoing federal government shutdown, represents less than 1% of total federal health insurance program expenditures, according to a study published Thursday in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
The study analyzed data from Washington, D.C., and 38 states that reported their emergency Medicaid expenditures for fiscal year 2022.
Overall, Medicaid accounts for 0.4% of total Medicaid expenditures, with an average cost of about $10 per person, the researchers found. Services covered by emergency Medicaid are life-saving procedures, including labor and delivery, the authors wrote. Some states also cover dialysis and cancer treatments.
Republicans in Congress support a $1 trillion cut to Medicaid, which they say would only limit care for immigrants who lack legal status and others “legally present” in the United States — including Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals beneficiaries who came to the United States illegally as children; Persons with temporary protection status; and refugees and asylum seekers who are still subject to legal procedures.
United States law Already banned Prevent unauthorized immigrants from obtaining any federally subsidized health care coverage through Medicaid, the Affordable Care Act, the Children’s Health Insurance Program, or otherwise.
A limited exception to this is emergency Medicaid, which covers care intended to stabilize individuals with serious medical conditions who might otherwise qualify for Medicaid if not for their immigration status.
Overall, emergency Medicaid expenditures accounted for about 0.9% of the state’s total Medicaid expenditures in states with a high share of undocumented residents, compared with 0.1% in states with a lower share, according to the study.
“Although states with larger undocumented populations spent nearly 15 times more per capita, emergency Medicaid still makes up less than 1% of total Medicaid spending even in states with large undocumented populations, posing a limited financial burden on Medicaid,” the study said. “These findings suggest that emergency Medicaid reductions will result in minimal overall cost savings and will disproportionately harm states with large unenrolled populations.”
A Democratic bill opposing Republicans’ proposed cuts to Medicaid does not seek to change existing law that bars people in the United States illegally from obtaining federal health care coverage. Instead, the dispute centers primarily on immigrants who have been ruled by the federal government as “lawfully present,” but who have not been formally granted legal status enforceable in court.
An estimated 1.4 million people are considered legally present in the United States. The government knows who they are and many of them go through the process of seeking official legal status or a green card.