This new issue brief examines the effects of a health reform provision to expand Medicaid eligibility for low-income adults.

More than 240,000 Kansans are expected to enroll in Medicaid if the state implements the 2014 eligibility expansion called for in the Affordable Care Act. Of those, only about 104,000 are currently uninsured.

The brief also includes cost estimates of the Medicaid expansion. In its first year (2014), the expansion could increase state Medicaid costs between $21 million and $112 million. Our estimate indicates the increase will total about $70 million. Because the federal government will initially cover all of the costs for newly eligible Kansans, virtually all of the increased costs will be the result of people joining the program who were previously eligible but not enrolled.

The state's share of the expansion costs from 2014 to 2020 could total between $221 million and $912 million. Our estimate indicates it will end up closer to $519 million, far less than what some other organizations are forecasting.