Uncompensated Care: How Much is Too Much?

Abstract

Texas is home to the largest uninsured population in the U.S. Such problems emerge, in large measure, from thestate’s rejection of Medicaid expansion. That decision has prevented Texas from receiving $100 billion in federalcash over a decade. Consequently, the number of uninsured residents either going without local medical care oroverloading adjacent communities is likely to increase. Therefore, this study seeks to explain the implicationsof Medicaid expansion in Denton county. This paper explores the effects of expanding Medicaid and how thatwould affect race, income, and Medicaid eligibility for indigent patients. The results of a Python–based simulationshow that, adjusting for Denton’s population growth at projected levels of uninsured, by 2020 the uncompensatedcare will cost Denton County $42,716,796. This number will continue to rise to a total of $61,462,134 as a resultof ceasing Medicaid expansion and getting rid of the individual mandate. These numbers are important as theyshow the rising costs of uncompensated care that are associated with an increase in population growth.