The Center for Healthcare Research and Transformation (CHRT) published a report highlighting the regional differences in Michigan’s uninsured population with important findings on the regional impact of possible Medicaid expansion in Michigan.
The report has several interesting findings:
While Wayne County and the City of Detroit have the most number of uninsured adults that will be eligible under an expanded Medicaid program, the counties in the northern lower peninsula will have the greatest increase in the percentage of potential Medicaid enrollees.
If Medicaid is expanded, 92.9% of Michigan’s non-elderly uninsured will be eligible for Medicaid or tax-credits in a federal health insurance exchange.
Understanding the regional variations in the rates of uninsured will be essential for local and regional health care employers and professionals as broader implementation of the Affordable Care Act continues in January.
The debate surrounding Medicaid expansion is hardly over, but regardless of the outcome, the impact of the Legislature’s decision will be felt across the state.
How will Michigan’s primary care providers handle a larger number of patients with access to Medicaid or exchange-provided insurance? Without Medicaid expansion, how will hospitals and other acute-care health care delivery settings react during an era of national reimbursement plans shifting to primary care?