{"id":10052,"date":"2012-06-27T10:42:02","date_gmt":"2012-06-27T14:42:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/new-hampshire\/?p=10052"},"modified":"2012-06-27T15:04:33","modified_gmt":"2012-06-27T19:04:33","slug":"affordable-care-act-in-the-eye-of-the-beholder","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateimpact.npr.org\/new-hampshire\/2012\/06\/27\/affordable-care-act-in-the-eye-of-the-beholder\/","title":{"rendered":"Affordable Care Act: In The Eye Of The Beholder"},"content":{"rendered":"

Tomorrow, the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act<\/a> will likely be handed down by the Supreme Court. There are two main pieces under consideration: the individual mandate, and Medicaid expansion.<\/p>\n

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Bernard Pollack<\/p>

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According to John Stephen, New Hampshire\u2019s former Health and Human Services Commissioner, Medicaid expansion will cost the state an additional $1 billion over ten years. Currently, Medicaid costs the state $1.4 billion annually, so this brings the cost up about 7 percent per year. To Stephen, this is a \u201chuge amount of dollars.\u201d To Deb Fournier of the liberal-leaning New Hampshire Fiscal Policy Institute, this would be a \u201chealthcare bargain\u201d — although as she understands it, Medicaid expansion may bring about no new costs at all.<\/p>\n

In New Hampshire, the Affordable Care Act is most certainly in the eye of the beholder.<\/p>\n

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Andrew Aliferis<\/p>

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Families USA<\/a>, a \u201cnational nonprofit, non-partisan organization dedicated to the achievement of high quality, affordable health care for all Americans,\u201d says that if both the Individual mandate and Medicaid expansion are deemed constitutional, most individuals in New Hampshire will be better off. \u201cOn average, each household in New Hampshire will be $1,662 better off in 2019,\u201d Families USA has calculated using Jonathan Gruber’s MicroSimulation model<\/a>, which takes into account the costs of Medicaid expansion, ACA tax credits, resulting wage and tax increases among other factors.<\/p>\n

Here’s their breakdown by income level:<\/p>\n