Medicaid News
Coverage of Medicaid programs, reforms, and government spending.
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How the Feds Handcuff States to Medicaid
During the pandemic, the number of Americans enrolled in Medicaid skyrocketed from 75 million to 90 million. The issue? Not everyone currently enrolled in Medicaid is eligible. And the federal government is trying to prevent states from removing ineligible Americans from their rolls. This costs the taxpayer serious money, explains Hayden DuBlois, deputy research director…Douglas Blair -
‘Build Back Better’ Plan Would Make Medicaid Bigger With Less Flexibility, Accountability
A lot of transformative health care policy is embedded in Democrats’ $3.5 trillion social spending bill, including continuation of the Biden administration’s campaign to strip away state flexibility and consolidate greater federal control over Medicaid. Medicaid, the joint federal-state program to provide health care services to certain low-income Americans, has seen an explosion in…Nina Owcharenko Schaefer -
My Encounter With Medicaid Is a Cautionary Tale About Biden’s Public Option
With Georgia’s special Senate runoff election results showing Republicans are going to lose their majority in the Senate, presumptive President-elect Joe Biden is likely to face a lot less resistance fulfilling his promises of creating a public option in Obamacare. Additionally, with polls showing nearly two-thirds of Americans approving of a public option, the threat…Tanner Aliff -
Texas, Louisiana Can Exclude Planned Parenthood From Medicaid Funding, Court Rules
Texas and Louisiana may exclude Planned Parenthood clinics from Medicaid funding, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Monday. “Undercover video plainly showed Planned Parenthood admitting to morally bankrupt and unlawful conduct, including violations of federal law by manipulating the timing and methods of abortions to obtain fetal tissue for their own research,” Texas…Mary Margaret Olohan -
3 Ways the Trump Administration Saves on Medicare, Medicaid Costs
The Trump administration has made several free market reforms in health care that should contribute to the solvency of Medicare and Medicaid, the official in charge of the programs says. President Donald Trump, both as a candidate and as an officeholder, has opposed structural entitlement reforms backed by some conservatives. But the Trump administration’s actions…Fred Lucas -
Medicaid Waivers Provide a Pathway for Health Care Reform
Medicaid—the welfare program that provides health care to vulnerable, low-income individuals and families —needs to be reformed, and soon. It’s consuming an ever-larger share of spending at the federal and state level and squeezing out other public policy priorities. At the same time, many of the rules governing Medicaid limit the ability to design and…Nina Owcharenko Schaefer -
Reform the Federal-State Medicaid Partnership to Better Help Those in Need and Save Money
President Donald Trump’s budget includes Medicaid reforms that would restore accountability and improve the federal-state partnership. Predictably, the left is on the attack, contending that these “cuts” would harm the poor and vulnerable. In fact, the president’s proposals would reduce improper federal spending, which now exceeds $75 billion annually, preserve public resources for those most…Brian Blase -
California Lawmakers Move to Expand Medicaid for Illegal Immigrants
The California Assembly voted 44-11 in favor of a bill last week that broadens state Medicaid coverage to include illegal immigrants to the tune of more than $3 billion annually. Under federal law, Medi-Cal, the state’s Medicaid program, provides health care to low-income citizens. Assembly Bill 4, if passed, would eliminate the existing citizenship…Kaylee Greenlee -
North Carolina Leaders Are Embracing a Flawed Medicaid Financing Scheme. It’s Time to End It.
Former Vice President Joe Biden was right when he called it a $40 billion scam. That’s how Biden once characterized Medicaid provider taxes. States impose these taxes on hospitals or other providers to recover a portion of state Medicaid costs while still drawing down more federal payments. Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper of North Carolina and state legislators…Joseph Coletti -
Idaho Voters Ponder Ballot Question on Expanding Medicaid
Idaho Republicans have made it clear to voters: Reject a proposition on the ballot that would expand eligibility for Medicaid as part of Obamacare. Nearly 30 Republican members of the Idaho House of Representatives and legislative candidates announced their opposition to Proposition 2, citing concerns that the ballot initiative would take away funding from other…Troy Worden -
Trump Administration Takes on Unions Over ‘Skimming’ Medicaid Funds
Sally Coomer of Seattle, who cares for her disabled adult daughter at home, doesn’t like the fact that union dues are deducted from the Medicaid payment she gets for her services under a Washington state policy. “The money that is taken out in union dues, if it was not siphoned off, could be used to…Fred Lucas -
States Need Congress to Break Obamacare’s Medicaid Gridlock
Recent attention to a court decision against a waiver granted to Kentucky to make work requirements part of its Medicaid program should spur congressional action on Obamacare to give states greater flexibility to help those in need. Under the current Obamacare structure, states that want to help low-income people get care and coverage are pushed…Nina Owcharenko Schaefer -
California Lawmakers Look to Extend State Medicaid to Illegal Immigrants
Both houses of the California Legislature have voted to lift the requirement of legal residency in the state to be eligible to receive the state version of Medicaid, adding to the state’s growing list of policies favoring illegal immigrants. The separate bills in the state Assembly and state Senate come as the state faces a…Jeremiah Poff -
Some Virginia Lawmakers Want to Expand Medicaid. Why That’s a Bad Idea.
Every year, we see renewed efforts to push states to adopt Obamacare’s Medicaid expansion. Virginia drew national attention this year when its House of Delegates signaled that it was warming to an expansion. Many thought the tide had shifted. But cooler minds prevailed in the Senate, hopefully keeping Virginia from making a huge mistake. As…Nina Owcharenko Schaefer -
Planned Parenthood Loses Legal Battle Over Medicaid Funding in Arkansas
This week, a federal appeals court upheld Arkansas’ decision to cancel its Medicaid provider agreement with Planned Parenthood, which allowed Medicaid recipients to receive non-abortion services at Planned Parenthood clinics. This is good news for other states that decide to stop allowing taxpayers’ money to flow to Planned Parenthood. Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson announced in…Elizabeth Slattery -
We Hear You: The Minimum Wage, Welfare, Medicaid … and Walling Off the Eiffel Tower
Editor's note: Jarrett Stepman's commentaries for The Daily Signal ring bells with readers. See for yourself in this selection of responses.—Ken McIntyre Dear Daily Signal: Jarrett Stepman writes in opposition to Seattle's having raised the minimum wage: "Lincoln saw the ‘opportunity society’ and reaping the fruits of one’s labor as fundamental to the growth and…Ken McIntyre -
School-Based Health Services and Medicaid in Context: A Better Way to Pay
Congressional efforts to reform health care include capping federal funding and streamlining Medicaid to refocus it on its original, neediest recipients and slow the rate of growth for what has become an expensive, unrestricted entitlement threatening the future of the safety net for those in greatest need. Yet critics argue that such efforts would adversely…Lindsey Burke -
Democrats’ Fearmongering Over Medicaid Ignores Just How Bad the Program Is
Die-hard Obamacare defenders are out in force to protest Republican repeal efforts. The protesters are falsely claiming the repeal will gut Medicaid, causing frail, indigent seniors to be evicted from nursing homes. It’s sheer demagoguery. But even these phony claims could have redeeming value if they get the public to take a closer look at…Betsy McCaughey -
Obama Says Health Bill Will ‘Ruin’ Medicaid. Here’s Why the Program Needs Reform.
The much-anticipated Senate health care bill dropped Thursday morning, and the hot takes poured in. While analysts are scrambling to understand the details of the legislation, one of the biggest early criticisms is that it eviscerates Medicaid, which is a public health care program. Liberal pundits and legislators reacted by saying that the bill would…Jarrett Stepman -
Trump’s Budget Puts Medicaid on a Path to Long-Needed Reform
Medicaid, the huge government health program for the poor and the indigent, is broken. Both the Trump administration’s recent budget submission and the House-passed American Health Care Act, designed to partially repeal and replace Obamacare, propose Medicaid fixes. Dubious assumptions burden the Trump budget proposal, and the House health care reform bill labors under some…Robert Moffit