Economic Impacts of Medicaid Expansion in Georgia

Georgia is one of ten states in the country that have not expanded Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act. An expansion would increase the income limit for non-senior adults to qualify for the program up to 138 percent of the Federal Poverty Level (FPL), allowing more people to gain access. The federal government would be responsible for funding 90 percent of the newly eligible enrollment population each year as well as an additional 5 percentage points of the existing enrollment population for the first two years of expansion under the American Rescue Plan, leaving the remainder for the state to cover. Georgia Health Initiative commissioned REMI to conduct a state- and county-level economic impact analysis of Medicaid expansion in Georgia using a regional PI+ model. The study looked at changes in total employment, economic output, Gross Domestic Product (GDP), personal income, and population.

Some notable results are available below:

• • • • On average during its first three years, Medicaid expansion in Georgia would spur the creation of an additional 51,264 jobs statewide
      • The size of the state economy is forecasted to increase by $9.4 billion in economic output and $5.5 billion in GDP on average each year during the first three years of the expansion
      • Rural Georgians are expected to experience annual average increases of 5,611 jobs, $862.4 million in economic output, and $502.5 million in GDP
      • The expansion would stimulate significant consumer spending (both health care and non health care related), increased supply chain demand, and growth in investment activity, among other effects

Click here to access the Issue Brief published by Georgia Health Initiative

Click here to access the full REMI report