Medicaid
Medicaid is a joint federal-state program that provides medical care to nearly 70 million low-income individuals nationwide. It is a means-tested program that is managed by the states. People served by Medicaid are U.S. citizens or legal permanent residents, including low-income adults, their children, and people with certain disabilities. Medicaid has expanded rapidly since its inception in 1965. This could possibly be linked to the program's financial structure, in which the federal government matches state spending. The incentives are so dysfunctional that states have inflated the cost of health care. • State expenditures on Medicaid have increased from 0.2 percent of tax revenues in 1966 to an estimated 21 percent in 2005. • In 1975, 10 percent of the U.S. population was enrolled in Medicaid, by 2008, 19 percent were enrolled. • In FY 2010, Medicaid surpassed elementary and secondary education as the largest component of total state spending. • ObamaCare will add 18 million people to Medicaid rolls. Even without reform, Medicaid spending may increase by as much as 50 percent in 10 years. This is an unsustainable model. State-by-State Insurance Information is available at this site.
Archive Related Items

An Overview of Medicaid

12/17/13
from NCPA,
12/17/13:

Medicaid was considered an afterthought to Medicare, but today more Americans receive health care coverage from Medicaid than from any other program, say Jason Fichtner and John Pulito of the Mercatus Center.

• State Medicaid participation is technically voluntary, but all states participate, with federal and state governments sharing the costs of the program.

• Eligibility for the program varies state to state, but participants cannot have income that exceeds a certain percentage of the Federal Poverty Level (today, that number ranges from $11,490 for a single person to $39,630 for a family of eight).

• The Affordable Care Act originally mandated that states expand Medicaid, but after the Supreme Court's 2012 ruling, states now have the choice to decide whether to expand eligibility for the program.

• While the federal government is covering a significant amount of Medicaid expenses, state budgets are still affected.

• In 1967, when Medicaid started, it represented less than 3 percent of state budgets. Today, that number is at 24 percent and is likely to rise.

• According to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, annual Medicaid expenditures are expected to increase by $500 billion between 2012 and 2021. That is a 108 percent increase.

If Medicaid spending continues on this trajectory -- even without state eligibility expansion -- the program is going to require increased state and federal resources.

More From NCPA:



365 Days Page
Archive Related Items
Comment ( 0 )