How A State's Choice On Medicaid Expansion Affects Hospitals

In negotiating the creation of the Affordable Care Act, hospitals took a big gamble, with the expectation that they would soon have millions of new Medicaid customers. In states that expanded Medicaid, the bet paid off.

KHN’s Sarah Varney reports for PBS NewsHour on financial gains made by some hospitals as more patients are able to pay their bills, and the heavy price being paid by hospitals in states that opted against expansion.

KFF Health News is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF—an independent source of health policy research, polling, and journalism. Learn more about KFF.

<h1>How A State’s Choice On Medicaid Expansion Affects Hospitals</h1>
<div>	<span class="byline">Sarah Varney, KFF Health News</span>
		<time class="posted-on" datetime="2014-12-29T12:04:38-05:00">
			December 29, 2014		</time>
		</div>
<p></p><p>In negotiating the creation of the Affordable Care Act, hospitals took a big gamble, with the expectation that they would soon have millions of new Medicaid customers. In states that expanded Medicaid, the bet paid off.</p><p>KHN’s Sarah Varney reports for PBS NewsHour on financial gains made by some hospitals as more patients are able to pay their bills, and the heavy price being paid by hospitals in states that opted against expansion.</p><p> </p><ul><li><a href="https://kffhealthnews.org/news/how-a-states-choice-on-medicaid-expansion-affects-hospitals/?share=x">				Click to share on X (Opens in new window)				X			</a></li><li><a href="https://kffhealthnews.org/news/how-a-states-choice-on-medicaid-expansion-affects-hospitals/?share=facebook">				Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)				Facebook			</a></li><li><a href="https://kffhealthnews.org/news/how-a-states-choice-on-medicaid-expansion-affects-hospitals/?share=linkedin">				Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)				LinkedIn			</a></li><li><a href="mailto:?subject=%5BShared%20Post%5D%20How%20A%20State%27s%20Choice%20On%20Medicaid%20Expansion%20Affects%20Hospitals&body=https%3A%2F%2Fkffhealthnews.org%2Fnews%2Fhow-a-states-choice-on-medicaid-expansion-affects-hospitals%2F&share=email">				Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window)				Email			</a></li><li><a href="https://kffhealthnews.org/news/how-a-states-choice-on-medicaid-expansion-affects-hospitals/#print?share=print">				Click to print (Opens in new window)				Print			</a></li><li>				<a href="https://kffhealthnews.org/news/how-a-states-choice-on-medicaid-expansion-affects-hospitals/view/republish/">					Republish This Story				</a>			</li></ul><em><a href="https://kffhealthnews.org/about-us">KFF Health News</a> is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF—an independent source of health policy research, polling, and journalism. Learn more about <a href="https://www.kff.org/about-us">KFF</a>.</em><p><a href="https://kffhealthnews.org/morning-briefing/">Subscribe</a> to KFF Health News' free Morning Briefing.</p><p>This <a target="_blank" href="https://kffhealthnews.org/news/how-a-states-choice-on-medicaid-expansion-affects-hospitals/">article</a> first appeared on <a target="_blank" href="https://kffhealthnews.org">KFF Health News</a> and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.<img src="https://kffhealthnews.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/04/kffhealthnews-icon.png?w=150" style="width:1em;height:1em;margin-left:10px;"><img id="republication-tracker-tool-source" src="https://kffhealthnews.org/?republication-pixel=true&post=513372&amp;ga4=G-J74WWTKFM0" style="width:1px;height:1px;"></p>

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