Medicare Blog

how would expanding medicare boost job growth

by Ambrose Kilback Published 2 years ago Updated 1 year ago
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Additionally, Bivens finds that Medicare for All would: Provide a potential boost to wages and salaries by allowing employers to redirect healthcare spending to workers’ wages. Increase job quality by ensuring that every job would come bundled with a guarantee of health care.

Full Answer

Will Medicare for all increase the number of jobs?

Mar 05, 2020 · But while Medicare for All would indeed lead to lower demand for labor in the health insurance and billing administration sector, it would boost demand for other types of jobs overall. For example, expanded access to health care could increase demand for health services by up to $300 billion annually, which would translate into an increased demand for 2.3 million …

What are the economic benefits of Medicaid expansion?

More than 1 million jobs could result from Medicaid expansion into all 50 states. Medicaid expansion would increase federal revenue to the 14 states by $49 billion in 2022.

What would Medicare for all do to the economy?

Beyond that, Medicare for All would effectively double the number of "good" jobs available by providing every worker with health care, creating more choice for …

Will Medicaid expansion increase program enrollment in 2022?

May 20, 2021 · Key Findings and Conclusions: Expanding Medicaid would increase federal revenue to the 14 states by $49 billion in 2022; state matching costs would be $5 billion. More than 1 million jobs would be created nationwide, with largest gains in Texas (298,900), Florida (134,700), North Carolina (83,000), and Georgia (64,300).

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Why we should expand Medicare?

Improving Benefits and Capping Costs Would Allow More Seniors to Get Needed Care. Seniors that lack coverage for dental, hearing, and vision services may struggle to live a full life due to tooth pain or loss, difficulty hearing, and the diminishment of sight.Aug 27, 2021

How does Medicare help the economy?

Medicare for All could decrease inefficient “job lock” and boost small business creation and voluntary self-employment. Making health insurance universal and delinked from employment widens the range of economic options for workers and leads to better matches between workers' skills and interests and their jobs.Mar 5, 2020

Does Medicaid expansion benefit the economy?

Medicaid expansion will boost federal revenues to the states and the enhanced economic activity will lead to higher state and local tax revenues.May 20, 2021

What is Medicare expansion?

Medicare expansion refers to broadening the benefits of the program, as the parts in which beneficiaries enroll through the government provide limited coverage. Throughout the years, extensions of the program have been uncommon, with one of the most notable instances being coverage of disabled individuals under 65.Nov 9, 2021

Is Medicare a success?

Medicare's successes over the past 35 years include doubling the number of persons age 65 or over with health insurance, increasing access to mainstream health care services, and substantially reducing the financial burdens faced by older Americans.

How does Medicare impact healthcare?

I found that Medicare eligibility is associated with a 1.5-percentage-point reduction in reports of being unable to get necessary care (a 50.9 percent reduction compared with the percentage at age sixty-four) and a 4.1-percentage-point (45.3 percent) reduction in not being able to get needed care because of the cost.Feb 1, 2021

Why did Florida not expand Medicaid?

Florida is one of 12 states that has not expanded Medicaid eligibility as allowed under Affordable Care Act (ACA). The ACA doesn't provide subsidies for people with income below the poverty level, because the law called for them to have Medicaid instead.

Did the Affordable Care Act expand Medicare?

The Affordable Care Act's (ACA) Medicaid expansion expanded Medicaid coverage to nearly all adults with incomes up to 138% of the Federal Poverty Level ($17,774 for an individual in 2021) and provided states with an enhanced federal matching rate (FMAP) for their expansion populations.Apr 19, 2022

How does Medicaid impact the economy?

Medicaid spending generates economic activity, including jobs, income and state tax revenues, at the state level. Medicaid is the second largest line item in state budgets. Money injected into a state from outside the state is critical to generating economic activity.

What are the 2021 Medicare changes?

The Medicare Part B premium is $148.50 per month in 2021, an increase of $3.90 since 2020. The Part B deductible also increased by $5 to $203 in 2021. Medicare Advantage premiums are expected to drop by 11% this year, while beneficiaries now have access to more plan choices than in previous years.Sep 24, 2021

Who qualifies for Mainecare expansion?

Who is eligible for Expansion? People age 21 to 64, who are not eligible for Medicare, with income less than the limit shown for their family size in this chart are eligible. There are no asset limits.Jan 20, 2022

Are they changing Medicare to 60?

The Proposal for Medicare at 60 Besides a proposal to offer a public health insurance option similar to Medicare, President Biden hopes to lower the Medicare eligibility age to 60. During the presidential race, this was part of his health care platform. Currently, the age at which one becomes Medicare-eligible is 65.Dec 7, 2021

What would Medicare for All do?

Medicare for All would allow workers to seek out better matching jobs and start their own businesses. The United States ranks dead last in self-employment among the world's wealthy democracies at around 6%, while the rates in Europe consistently exceed 10%.

When is the Democratic presidential debate in Charleston?

Supporters of "Medicare For All" demonstrate outside of the Charleston Gaillard Center ahead of the Democratic presidential debate on February 25, 2020 in Charleston, South Carolina. South Carolina holds its Democratic presidential primary on Saturday, February 29. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

How does Medicare for All affect wages?

Higher cash wages and salaries. Medicare for All could increase wages and salaries for U.S. workers by reducing employers’ costs for health insurance—freeing up fiscal space to invest in wages instead.

How does public spending affect aggregate demand?

All else equal, more public spending will boost aggregate demand and create jobs, while higher taxes will reduce aggregate demand and restrain job growth. Further, the progressivity of taxes used to finance fundamental health reform will also condition its effect on aggregate demand.

What are the benefits of M4A?

The most obvious benefits would be higher wages and salaries, increased availability of good jobs, reduced stress during spells of job loss, better “matches” between workers and employers, and greater opportunity to start small businesses.

Which countries have the highest self employment rate?

Countries that are frequently portrayed in U.S. business reporting as being choked by regulation—like Spain, France, and Germany —have far higher shares of self-employment, at 16.0%, 11.7%, and 9.9%, respectively (OECD 2020).

Who is Josh Bivens?

Josh Bivens joined the Economic Policy Institute in 2002 and is currently EPI’s director of research. His primary areas of research include mac­roeconomics, social insurance, and globalization. He has authored or co-authored three books (including The State of Working America, 12th Edition) while working at EPI, has edited another, and has written numerous research papers, including many for academic journals. He appears often in media outlets to offer eco­nomic commentary and has testified several times before the U.S. Congress. He earned his Ph.D. from The New School for Social Research.

What is the job challenge of health reform?

The job challenge relating to a fundamental health reform is managing a relatively small increase in job churn during an initial phase-in period. Most Medicare for All plans explicitly recognize and account for the costs of providing these workers the elements of a just transition.

Does Medicare for All increase the number of jobs?

Like all positive productivity gains, Medicare for All would be more likely to increase the total number of jobs in the U.S. economy, even as health reform leads to the redeployment of workers from some sectors and into others.

What states have Medicaid expansion?

1 As of May 2021, 14 states have income limits well below that level: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kansas, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. Missouri and Oklahoma passed ballot initiatives to expand coverage but have not yet implemented expansion, and Wisconsin has a partial expansion covering adults up to 100 percent of poverty.

What are the measures of economic change?

Table 4 presents three important measures of state economic changes. Output is a measure of total economic activity in a state, including increased activity at the production, wholesale, and retail levels. State gross product is a standard measure of the size of states’ economies. Akin to the gross domestic product, it measures the value added in states at production, wholesale, and retail levels. Personal income (before taxes) measures how much individuals’ incomes grow in the state, particularly because of increased employment. Medicaid expansion will fuel stronger state economies because of the inflow of federal funding. These benefits do not include other possible effects, such as greater productivity because of better health.

What is personal income?

Personal income (before taxes) measures how much individuals’ incomes grow in the state, particularly because of increased employment.

Is there a Medicaid expansion in the 14 remaining states?

Medicaid expansion in the 14 remaining states, spurred by new funding in the American Rescue Plan, can help these states and the rest of the nation recover from the recession and harm triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic. Millions of low-income Americans in these states currently have no meaningful access to health insurance.

Why is having a healthy population important?

The economic benefits of having a healthy population are clear: workers are more productive, less likely to miss work due to illness or disability, and less likely to leave the workforce due to illness or death.

Does health insurance affect economic growth?

Despite the lively debate in the popular press over the potential economic consequences of expanding health care coverage, few studies have directly investigated the effect of universal or near-universal health insurance on employment and economic growth. Instead, the academic literature to date largely relies on the assumption that because greater access to health insurance improves health and better health leads to economic growth, health insurance coverage should have a positive economic effect. This, however, does not account for the potential negative effects of health care costs.

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Background: The Need For Fundamental Health Reform

Health Reform as Labor Market Policy: Key Effects For Workers

  • Fundamental reforms like M4A could greatly aid labor market outcomes for U.S. workers. The most obvious benefits would be higher wages and salaries, increased availability of good jobs, reduced stress during spells of job loss, better “matches” between workers and employers, and greater opportunity to start small businesses.
See more on epi.org

About The Author

  • Josh Bivens joined the Economic Policy Institute in 2002 and is currently EPI’s director of research. His primary areas of research include mac­roeconomics, social insurance, and globalization. He has authored or co-authored three books (including The State of Working America, 12th Edition) while working at EPI, has edited another, and has written numerous resea…
See more on epi.org

Endnotes

  • 1. Underinsurance includes coverage gaps throughout a year. 2. “Excess costs” typically refers to health care costs that are rising faster than other economic benchmarks, such as overall gross domestic product. The Congressional Budget Office, for example, defines excess costs as the percentage change in health care costs per beneficiary minus the percentage change in per capi…
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References

  • Autor, David, and Anna Salomons. 2018. “Is Automation Labor-Displacing? Productivity Growth, Employment, and the Labor Share.” Brookings Papers on Economic Activity Conference Drafts, March 2018. Baker, Dean. 2015. Job Lock and Employer-Provided Health Insurance: Evidence from the Literature. AARP Public Policy Institute, March 2015. Banthin, Jessica. 2017. “Health Ca…
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