States are spending 15 percent of their home-generated revenue on the program, seeing their largest cost increases in 20 years.
A proposal under the state budget would end the need for people with intellectual or developmental disabilities to qualify annually. Instead, they would be considered permanently eligible unless their circumstances or conditions change.
Work requirements through welfare have helped recipients find meaningful jobs. America has a vast workforce network at the ready to provide job placement services.
A new cost-cutting law will move the system toward managed care, likely over a period of about four years.
Washington and the states don’t run the program. Contractors do.
Work requirements remain on the table but Congress will not cut the matching rate for the Affordable Care Act expansion or impose per capita limits on states.
States are anxiously awaiting potential cuts from Congress. In the meantime, their costs are already rising even as enrollment has decreased.
By cutting out middlemen and dealing directly with pharmacies, Ohio’s Medicaid system saved money even as it dramatically increased payments to pharmacists.
Voters in three states enshrined Medicaid expansions in their state constitutions. Those states could be on the hook if Congress cuts program funding significantly.
Congress and some red states are pushing for work requirements but most recipients already work. Medicaid and other state programs typically don’t offer job assistance or training.
The program has grown far beyond its original target populations. Congress needs to pare it back.
Proposals to cut Medicaid will not only end coverage for millions but undermine the health-care system as a whole.
Much has been said about the health consequences of severe Medicaid cuts. A new analysis from the Commonwealth Fund considers the jobs and revenue that states could lose.
Medicaid covers nearly half of all births in the U.S. and 80 million children. But the age and working status of recipients varies widely across the country.
GOP Gov. Mike DeWine wants more able-bodied recipients to work to receive benefits. Such requirements in other states have been held up in court but Congress might make them universal.
A proposal to set a per-enrollee limit on federal money for the program is gaining traction. But states know how to game Medicaid rules and federal oversight is woefully inadequate.
Most Read
