Medicaid and ACA Repeal: What Will Happen to the Safety Net?
<p>With at least a partial repeal of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) all but certain, a key unanswered question is what effect this will have on Medicaid, the nation’s health care safety net.</p><p>George Washington University’s Sara Rosenbaum, one of the nation’s foremost Medicaid experts, explores this critical question in a new brief for The Commonwealth Fund. She and her coauthors say that in addition to eliminating the ACA’s expanded eligibility for Medicaid for both adults and children, repeal could also mean a rollback of other reforms, such as a simplified enrollment process and improvements in services and supports for people with disabilities. The new administration could also expand its authority to introduce deeper structural changes, including eligibility restrictions tied to work, required premium contributions, and coverage limits and exclusions.</p>
<p>Together, these changes could have far-reaching consequences for a program that insures some 70 million Americans.
</p>