Scott Mooneyham of the Capitol Press Association has a new column out on the state budget. It’s which well worth reading. A key observation:
The trend of rising Medicaid costs, related to escalating health care costs that have been growing at three times higher than the rate of inflation, is nothing new.
If you look at the state’s general operating budget as a pie, the state’s public schools receive the same share of that pie today – 38 percent – as they did in 2000. The Medicaid budget today represents 15 percent of the pie, compared to 10 percent in 2000.
Thoughtful politicians of both political persuasions may disagree about what to do but understand that this trend is unsustainable.
