What is the cost of the MassHealth expansion?
Governor Romney estimates that 106,000 people of the 460,000 uninsured are currently eligible but not enrolled in MassHealth (the DHCFP previously said the number was 70,000). The cost for covering these people is already accounted for in the budget, according to the Governor. The 2002 DHCFP survey found that 30% of the uninsured were below 200% of the poverty line. Applying this percentage to the 2004 total number of uninsured leads to 138,000 uninsured below 200% fpl. Subtracting the 105,000 already eligible leads to an additional 33,000 people covered by the MassHealth expansion for adults. Assuming no other changes in coverage, the cost of fully covering this population would be about $104 million per year. Half of the cost would be reimbursed by the federal government. However, a substantial percentage would be newly eligible for employer-provided coverage, because of the employer responsibility provisions. Additionally, many already-insured people below 200% would join MassHealth
