Gov. Mark Dayton fulfilled a campaign promise Wednesday by signing an executive order to expand Medicaid to 95,000 low-income residents, and Sen. Dan Sparks, DFL-Austin, is confident the expansion will benefit Austin residents.

The coverage extension will reach out to 95,000 childless adults under age 65 with annual incomes of $8,000 or less. The 95,000 includes 51,000 people who now receive health care through MinnesotaCare, 32,000 who are on the General Assistance Medical Care program and 12,000 who are currently uninsured.

The Medicaid expansion is expected to cost Minnesota $384 million in order to get the federal matching funds, but in the end Dayton projects a net savings of $32 million for the state.

“For the most part, the government enrollment in (the program) will allow Minnesota to take advantage of some federal dollars,” Sparks said. “Under the current system, those individuals were under MinnesotaCare, which is paid by state dollars, and under this the federal government picks up half the cost of what the state is paying now.”

However, some Republican lawmakers warn the move will worsen the state’s budget deficit.

Sen. David Hann, R-Eden Prairie, said at a press conference Wednesday that he is concerned about the lack of requirements in place to receive the extended benefits.

“The policy in place removes all residency requirements and removes nearly all asset limits that were previously used to determine eligibility,” Hann said. “This is a big step in the wrong direction.”

Sparks said the eligibility requirements are something that will need to be examined, but he is not worried the program will more easily allow illegal aliens to enroll in government-funded health care.

“There’s quite a few checks and balances in place,” he said. “There’s a lengthy process people have to go through before they even qualify for any of those programs.”

Sparks said Austin Medical Center will hopefully benefit from the expansion because of increased reimbursement rates.

Medicaid coverage in this form will last until 2014, when the federal government is set to pick up the entire tab for childless adults and increase the income limit.

The governor’s office estimates the Medicaid expansion will protect 20,000 health-care jobs across Minnesota.