Friday, March 19, 2004

Medicaid Spending and Enrollment: State and National Data Update
At the Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Unisured, "This series of tables provides recent data on state-by-state and national Medicaid spending and enrollment. Using the latest federal information sources available, the first set of tables contains information on Medicaid spending by service using data from the Centers on Medicaid and Medicare Services (CMS) Form 64 for Federal Fiscal Year (FFY) 2002. A second set of tables is based on analysis of a more detailed data source, the Medicaid Statistical Information System (MSIS), which provides information on enrollment and spending per enrollee for FFY 2000. Both sets of tables were prepared for the Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured by the Urban Institute." See also at the KCMU web site, Medicaid's Federal-State Partnership: Alternatives for Improving Financial Integrity - Summary of Issues, Approaches, and Alternatives for Reform - "In this report from the Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured, Penny Thompson, former deputy director for the Center for Medicaid and State Operations, used existing models from the private sector and other government programs to assess Medicaid’s financial management and to develop options for improvement. This table summarizes the report’s findings."  
  

Government Auditors Urge Further Crackdown on State Medicaid Financing
Reuters Health story at Medscape - "Government auditors told a U.S. House of Representatives subcommittee Thursday that while recent actions to prevent states from 'gaming' the state-federal Medicaid health program for the poor have constrained such practices, there remains potential for abuse. Intergovernmental transfers (IGTs) - in which a city or county-owned nursing home or hospital puts up funding to claim part of the state share of Medicaid matching payments from the federal government - 'can be a legitimate state budget tool,' Kathryn Allen of the U.S. General Accounting Office told the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health. But IGTs, as they as known, have also been 'closely associated with, if not synonymous, with abusive schemes,' Allen said." [Viewing Medscape resources requires registration, which is free].