Medicaid: States Use Illusory Approaches to Shift Program Costs to Federal Government

United States Government Publishing Office publisher pbl distributor dst United States Government Accountability Office Health, Education, and Human Services Division author aut Government Organization text government publication eng GAOREPORTS Legislative Agency Publications gao legislative 2010-08-12 U.S. Government Printing Office 1994-08-01 monographic deposited born digital GA 1.13:HEHS-94-133 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-HEHS-94-133 P0b002ee18037371f f:he94133 DGPO 2010-08-12 2011-03-28 GAOREPORTS-HEHS-94-133 machine generated eng fdlp REPORT GAOREPORTS-HEHS-94-133 HEHS-94-133 Medicaid programs Hospitals State-administered programs Funds management Federal/state relations Federal aid to states Cost sharing (finance) Health care services Questionable payments Program abuses Michigan Tennessee Texas Texas Disproportionate Share Program for State-Owned Teaching Hospitals TennCare Letter Report HEHS Medicaid: States Use Illusory Approaches to Shift Program Costs to Federal Government Medicaid, which provides health insurance for qualified low-income persons, is jointly funded by the federal government and the states. Because of soaring health care costs during the past decade, states have been searching for new ways to help finance the $125 billion Medicaid program. Some states are now using dubious financial arrangements to collect federal funds without committing their own matching amounts, thus increasing the share of Medicaid costs borne by the federal government. This report (1) examines the financial arrangements used by states to inflate the federal share of Medicaid program expenditures, (2) describes the various techniques that states use to obtain federal funds for their basic Medicaid and disproportionate share hospital programs, and (3) looks into whether states are using their federal matching funds to provide medical services to Medicaid patients. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-HEHS-94-133/html/GAOREPORTS-HEHS-94-133.htm GAO/HEHS-94-133 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-HEHS-94-133 Letter Report GAO/HEHS-94-133; Medicaid: States Use Illusory Approaches to Shift Program Costs to Federal Government; Medicaid programs Hospitals State-administered programs Funds management Federal/state relations Federal aid to states Cost sharing (finance) Health care services Questionable payments Program abuses Michigan Tennessee Texas Texas Disproportionate Share Program for State-Owned Teaching Hospitals TennCare