Monday, June 20, 2005

The Medicaid Explosion Washington Post editorial - "Cost control is a daunting task, in large part because rising costs aren't mostly due to any problem with Medicaid itself. Rather, they stem from the growing ranks of the uninsured, the aging of the U.S. population and the rising costs of health care generally -- none of which are amenable to easy fixes. The biggest driver in rising Medicaid costs is the 40 percent increase in people enrolled in the last five years. This reflects the economic downturn and the decline in the availability and affordability of employer-sponsored health insurance. Meanwhile, Medicaid is no longer a program primarily for poor children and mothers: The elderly and disabled account for about 25 percent of beneficiaries but more than 70 percent of spending. Most significantly, because Medicare doesn't cover most long-term care and because only a sliver of Americans purchase long-term care insurance, Medicaid ends up picking up that expensive tab: The program accounts for 43 percent of all spending on long-term care...."