Arkansas LegislatureMedicaidObamacarePrivate Option

New Report Focuses On Budget Impact Of Obamacare In AR

state_budgetIn conjunction with the Advance Arkansas Institute, Joe Luppino-Esposito of State Budget Solutions has published a new report on the budgetary impact of Obamacare’s Medicaid expansion on the state.

Here are some of the key findings from the report:

  • Arkansas’s market-valued unfunded public pension liability: $32.7 billion.

  • Arkansas’s total state debt: $37.7 billion — that puts the per capita debt at $12,785.

  • Arkansas’s state debt is 34% of the state gross product. That is a whopping 264% of the state’s total expenditures in fiscal year 2012.

  • Medicaid already accounts for 21.4% of Arkansas’s total expenditures.

  • Arkansas is approaching a dangerous reliance on the federal government for its revenue. In 2012, the state received 34.47% of its general revenue from the federal government—more than 29 other states.

  • The eventual reduction of the federal government’s 90% reimbursement rate is all but certain: “The fastest thing that’s going to go when we’re cutting spending in Washington is a 100 or 90 percent match rate for Medicaid. There’s no way. It doesn’t matter if Republicans are running Congress or Democrats are running Congress. There’s no way we’re going to keep those match rates like that.” – Rep. Paul Ryan

Also, in case you missed it, AAI published this report last week about the material changes in Obamacare since the legislature originally adopted Medicaid expansion last year.

Please follow and like us:

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

The Arkansas Project