Medicaid: Spending Pressures Drive States Toward Program Reinvention
(Testimony, 04/04/95, GAO/T-HEHS-95-129).
The $131 billion Medicaid program is at a crossroads. Between 1985 and
1993, Medicaid costs tripled and the number of beneficiaries rose by
more than 50 percent. Medicaid costs are projected to rise to $260
billion, according to the Congressional Budget Office. Despite federal
and state budgetary constraints, several states are pressuring to expand
the program and enroll hundreds of thousands of new beneficiaries. The
cost of expanded coverage, they believe, will be offset by the
reallocation of Medicaid funds and the wholesale movement of
beneficiaries into some type of managed care arrangement. This
testimony examines (1) federal and state Medicaid spending, (2) some
states' efforts to contain Medicaid costs and expand coverage through
waiver of federal requirements, and (3) the potential impact of these
waivers on federal spending and on Medicaid's program structure overall.
--------------------------- Indexing Terms -----------------------------
REPORTNUM: T-HEHS-95-129
TITLE: Medicaid: Spending Pressures Drive States Toward Program
Reinvention
DATE: 04/04/95
SUBJECT: Medicaid programs
Quality assurance
Waivers
Health care services
Health care cost control
Health services administration
Disadvantaged persons
Eligibility criteria
State-administered programs
IDENTIFIER: Oregon
Hawaii
Kentucky
Tennessee
Rhode Island
Florida
Ohio
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