Following our recent Spotlight piece on the need for state Medicaid reform, Brian Blase and Dr. C.L. Gray wrote a Report on federal and state Medicaid problems associated with perverse funding incentives, crowding out of private insurance and solutions at both the federal and state-level.
I believe the most important take-away for policymakers, legislators and citizens is to understand that as long as federal funds used to support Medicaid are open-ended, the program will continue to expand while providing poor care to everyone enrolled. These open-ended federal contributions encourage states to grow large programs and pass the bill on to federal taxpayers. Federal government bailouts have also intensified the growth by ensuring that states do not see the immediate cost of their actions.
Blase and Gray give a nice briefing to how federal and state budgets are affected by Medicaid and what steps can be taken to reform the program, thereby improving access and quality of care while decreasing irresponsible spending.
