State Medicaid Programs

Posted on November 15, 2010 by townsend

• Medicaid easy to cut in theory, not reality, By Catherine Candisky, November 14, 2010, Columbus Dispatch: “The state budget crisis has put a target on the backs of 2million Ohioans on Medicaid – children and pregnant women, the disabled and elderly – but scaling back the tax-funded health-care program comes with its own price tag. For every dollar Ohio cuts in Medicaid spending, it loses $2 in federal matching funds. The human toll also could be staggering. Ohio’s Medicaid program pays for: • 1 in 3 births. • Half the patients treated at Ohio’s six children’s hospitals. • 70 percent of nursing-home care. The state’s Medicaid spending has reached $15.4 billion a year. That money provides care to the poor and disabled and pays doctors, nurses, home health aides and other service providers. According to state officials, Medicaid now makes up more than 3percent of the state’s economy. But most agree the tab – $29,000 per minute – is one Ohio taxpayers can no longer afford…”
• Is Texas really thinking of opting out of Medicaid?, By Corrie MacLaggan, November 13, 2010, Austin American-Statesman: “It’s been the buzz this past week in certain corners of the Texas Capitol: Is the Lone Star State really considering dropping out of the Medicaid program? GOP Gov. Rick Perry, fresh off a big re-election win and touting his new book on states’ rights, is among those who say it’s a good idea. The election results – which included a huge haul of state House seats for Republicans – have left some Capitol watchers wondering whether they should take seriously an idea that might have been immediately discarded in the past. Never mind that no state has ever ditched Medicaid. Or that the federal government typically kicks in about 6 of every 10 dollars spent on the health care program in Texas. Medicaid pays for more than half of all births and chips in for the care of nearly two-thirds of all nursing home residents in the state. And top medical industry officials say opting out of Medicaid would cripple the state’s health care system and hurt the economy…”