The Washington Post gives examples of how states shift money to pull in more federal Medicaid dollars–$1.9
billion in California and $850 million in Pennsylvania. Iowa cut its
share of Medicaid spending from 34 percent to 22 percent. Michigan’s
Medicaid euphemizes, “Admittedly we use [sic] and continue to use unorthodox payment options.” His counterpart in Illinois, sounding like a member of the NC General Assembly said, “It’s easy to label something as fraud and abuse…but the reality is, these dollars go to health care.”

Jim Frogue from the Center for Health Transformation is more honest: “They’re basically money-laundering.”

Frogue also co-authored a piece in yesterday’s Atlanta Journal-Constitution arguing that reforming Medicaid would improve the health of African-Americans.