The state needs updated information on Medicaid costs if it is to decide in the future to expand eligibility for the program, according to a state representative.
Rep. Scott Clem, R-Gillette, said Medicaid enrollment in the state has grown from 17,000 in 2011, when the last study on the impact of Medicaid expansion was completed, to 27,000 in 2018.
As a result, if the state considers making Medicaid benefits available to more people, it will need the data collected in a study proposed by SF 146, which was approved in its second House reading on Thursday.
“If we don’t have reliable data or we have differing opinions, should we move forward with Medicaid expansion?” he asked.
The bill would provide $260,000 fo a study on the financial impact of a Medicaid expansion, both in terms of the increased cost of extra patients and in terms of costs to health care providers.
The measure is to be read a third and final time in the House on Friday.
