The recent editorial regarding the supposed benefits of Medicaid expansion to Louisiana overlooked several important facts. Your editorial correctly noted that enrollment in Obamacare’s expansion to able-bodied adults exceeded projections by more than 100,000 individuals. As a result of this underestimation, an expansion originally projected to total $1.2 billion to $1.4 billion annually cost an estimated $3.1 billion during the last fiscal year.

The editorial cited a recent LSU survey on the state’s uninsurance rate, but omitted another important finding from that survey. From 2015 to 2017, enrollment by Medicaid-eligible individuals in employer-sponsored or other health insurance declined by nearly 75,000. It appears that since Medicaid expansion took effect, tens of thousands of Louisiana residents have dropped their private coverage to enroll on government-run health insurance –resulting in exploding costs to taxpayers.

Finally, your editorial failed to address the nearly 74,000 individuals with disabilities on Medicaid waiting lists in Louisiana. Because the state places a higher priority on covering able-bodied adults than providing critical care for the most vulnerable, thousands of Louisiana residents have died while on waiting lists for home-based care since Medicaid expansion took effect.