Nebraska Missing Out on Ripple Effect of Medicaid Expansion

Much of the debate about expanding health insurance coverage for low-income Nebraskans has focused on its estimated cost to the state — and at over $20 million a year, it’s not insignificant.

But taxpayer expense is certainly not the only way Medicaid expansion could affect Nebraskans’ pocketbooks.

Medicaid expansion would infuse more than a half-billion federal dollars annually into Nebraska’s health care system, sending what some economists estimate to be a $1 billion annual ripple through the state’s economy. 

Omaha World-Herald reporter Henry Cordes spoke to Methodist Health System CFO Jeff Francis as one of many sources for this overview on Medicaid expansion in Nebraska.