State Medicaid Adviser Says Graham-Cassidy Bill Will Stabilize Marketplace

A state Medicaid adviser told lawmakers on Monday that the Graham-Cassidy bill to replace Obamacare would stabilize the health care marketplace by combining Medicaid populations with younger, healthier individuals.

Dennis Smith, senior adviser for Medicaid and health care reform for the Arkansas Department of Human Services, said at the Senate Finance Committee hearing today that the Congressional Budget Office has predicted in 2017 there would be 35 million nonelderly individuals enrolled in Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP). Because of the Affordable Care Act, Smith explained, there would be 15 million more added to that number. Now, however, there are 69 million nonelderly individuals on Medicaid and CHIP.

"So the individuals that CBO predicted would be receiving subsidies over in the marketplace in fact are in Medicaid instead," Smith said. "As Congress searches for answers for how to stabilize premiums for those in the individual market, it should consider where people actually went for coverage."

Smith says the Graham-Cassidy bill will stabilize the market because it puts both populations together and includes a pool with 22 million individuals who are relatively young and healthy.

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