The state House Democratic Policy Committee will hold a hearing Monday on Medicaid expansion in Pennsylvania and how it would affect the commonwealth's economy.
The hearing will be 2-4:30 p.m. in Room 418 of the main Capitol in Harrisburg, according to a news release from committee Chairman Mike Sturla, D-Lancaster County.
The committee will hear from representatives from the health care industry as well as health advocates regarding Gov. Tom Corbett's decision to punt on Medicaid expansion.
"Our initial estimates show that a Medicaid expansion under the ACA would cost Pennsylvania almost $1 billion of new state taxpayer dollars through fiscal year 2015-2016 — ultimately rising to a total cost of over $4.1 billion of new state taxpayer dollars by the end of fiscal year 2020-2021," Corbett said in a letter earlier this month to the federal government. "Without reform, the only way to support these costs would be a large tax increase on Pennsylvania families."
Neighboring states, including New Jersey, have opted to expand Medicaid, which could put pressure on Corbett to reconsider.
Medicaid expansion is a component of the Affordable Care Act. The federal government would pay 100 percent of funding needed to expand in the first three years of implementation and no less than 90 percent after 2017.
Twenty-four states and Washington, D.C., have opted to expand Medicaid thus far.
