One of the Left’s favorite talking points for why states should expand Medicaid is that doing so will mean more jobs at Missouri’s hospitals. That argument is attractive, at least superficially; if the government spends more money on health care, the assumption could be that more people will be hired by hospitals. In other words, it’s “the stimulus” debate all over again: If you spend it, there will be jobs.
But is it true that Medicaid expansion actually leads to hospital job growth? So far, it sure doesn’t look like it (emphasis added).
U.S. healthcare employment began to accelerate after the first three months of the year and the uptick caught the attention of economists with the Altarum Institute, who conducted the analysis to determine whether hiring grew faster in Medicaid expansion states. It did not, they found. In fact, growth was faster in states that did not expand Medicaid, said Ani Turner, deputy director of Altarum’s Center for Sustainable Health Spending.
Proponents of expansion have touted the economic benefits of increased Medicaid enrollment, as they make their case to reluctant state governors and lawmakers. Indeed, hospitals in states that expanded eligibility are seeing less bad debt and fewer uninsured patients. But it might become harder to argue that Medicaid expansion is a jobs engine if the numbers don’t bear it out.
Healthcare averaged 14,271 new jobs a month from April to October in states that did not expand Medicaid, up 117% from the preceding 12 months. The healthcare employment increase in Medicaid expansion states over 2013, meanwhile, was 92%.
You can find one of Altarum’s briefings on the subject here. Missouri is fortunate that by rejecting the expansion it can carefully watch the experiences of other states who did expand their Medicaid programs—decisions oftentimes based on the specious promises of special interests and ambitious politicians. As the numbers come in and oft-cited expansion states like Arkansas consider reversing course, the Show-Me State’s hesitance to jump into the Medicaid expansion pool looks all the more appropriate.
