Sen. Clay Scofield, R-Arab, rose for a point of personal privilege on the floor of the Alabama Senate today and offered a blistering critique of the impact expanding Medicaid under ObamaCare would have on the state.
“ACA expansion does not include ‘free money,’ as some say,” Scofield said. “It is our money taxed and borrowed by the Federal Government.”
Scofield pointed out the stunning rise in Medicaid spending in recent years, which has been a significant contributor to the skyrocketing national debt.
“Federal debt is currently $17.2 Trillion,” he said. “Nationally, Medicaid has increased 180 percent since 1980, adding an additional 35 million people to its rolls. Medicaid spending has increased 1,1519 percent over that same period. Medicaid and Medicare now consume 23 percent of federal spending, and experts estimate that 30 percent of health care spending is waste.”
Scofield then laid out the detrimental impact expanding Medicaid would have on small businesses in Alabama.
“Employers with 50 or more employees may cut back on number of full-time employees or conduct layoffs to stay below the 50 employee threshold,” he said. “That suppresses growth. Penalties will be assessed on employers who do not provide ‘affordable’ coverage, as defined by the federal government… A survey of Alabama small businesses indicated that 84 percent of them believe the state should not expand Medicaid as envisioned by the Affordable Care Act. They are confused by the constant changes from the White House. Business owners can’t even get a straight-forward indication of the actual costs.”
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Scofield closed by discussing the stunning impact that Medicaid expansion would have on Alabama’s General Fund Budget. Expanding Medicaid would increase the General Fund by $15 million in 2015, but that number shoots up to $189 million by 2020, due to the fact that the state takes on a greater burden of the costs as time goes by.
“The only way to expand Medicaid is to raise taxes on hardworking Alabamians, and they’re taxed enough already,” Scofield said.
Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley has consistently said that he will continue to hold the line against expanding the broken program.
