Posted on 08/02/2005 4:34:00 PM PDT by ArmyBratproud
The extension of taxpayer-funded Medicaid to the working poor has led to the largest expansion of a government entitlement since the Great Society was launched in the 1960s.
The soaring costs of Medicaid – which will more than double this year to close to $330 billion since 1999 – is largely due to legislation that extended Medicaid coverage to many Americans who have low-paying jobs.
The government's free health care offering swelled Medicaid's numbers as many low-income workers are choosing Medicaid rather than insurance from their employer because it is free or nearly free and often provides more benefits, according to an eye-opening report in USA TODAY.
The result has been a staggering growth in the welfare state – as the federal government has become the health insurer of 100 million Americans – about one of every three citizens.
The growth of the health entitlement program – which critics say has become national health care by stealth – has been embraced by both Republicans and Democrats.
President Bush has even proposed $1 billion in spending for the next two years "to encourage eligible families to sign up for Medicaid," USA Today noted.
Some experts blame the growth of Medicaid on 1996's landmark welfare reform legislation, which moved millions of welfare recipients off the welfare rolls and into low paying jobs.
To make sure these newly employed didn't lose free health benefits, the federal government enacted legislation to extend Medicaid to lower-incomed workers.
"Health coverage has been a costly side effect of welfare reform," the newspaper disclosed.
Now a great number of workers – many who were never on welfare - can also sign on for free health care.
Under federal rules, a family of four can earn as much as $40,000 a year in most states and still get government health insurance for children.
The Medicaid program has grown from covering 34 million individuals in 1999 to 47 million last year, and Medicaid costs have soared from $159 billion in 1997 to $295 billion in 2004 – an increase of 85 percent.
This year Medicaid spending is projected to hit $329 billion.
Added to the staggering costs are new rules that provide Medicaid to illegal aliens – tacking on another $2.5 billion to annual costs.
Critics say Medicaid's expansion is adding to the crushing Federal deficit and luring workers from insurance plans offered by employers.
Supporters, on the other hand, maintain that Medicaid will prevent higher costs in the future by reducing emergency room visits by the uninsured.
But the expansion of benefits to low-income workers has made federal and state taxpayers "the health insurance provider for millions of workers at Wal-Mart, McDonald's and other low-wage employers," USA TODAY reports.
The federal government pays 59 percent of Medicaid costs; the states pay the rest. The rising costs are crushing many states, who say rising health costs are contributing to deficits.
Medicaid enrollment now even outpaces enrollment in Medicare, and many states are spending more on Medicaid than on anything else, including education.
Said Michael Cannon, director of health care studies at the Cato Institute: "Shame on us for creating perverse incentives that cause people to give up private coverage for Medicaid."
(This was not sent from a blackberry)
Said Michael Cannon, director of health care studies at the Cato Institute: "Shame on us for creating perverse incentives that cause people to give up private coverage for Medicaid."
Haven't noticed private insurance getting any cheaper.. What should happen is that people should be paying for their care outright... and buy insurance only for truly catastrophic occurances, say, for costs over $10,000.
I'm on a plan that my employer is now covering.. one medication i was taking became an "over-the-counter" drug. Rather than just paying the $30 for a monthly dose, my doctor suggested a new drug (not a better one) that I could get covered with insurance - and only pay $14. The insurance would pay the $106... to save me $16! 100% coverage COMPLETELY distorts the market...
Big government getting bigger with a Republican president and Congress. Someone remind me again what this party is supposed to stand for.
The scariest part is that it costs this much even though the government pays PEANUTS for care.
Among the BIG problems with Medicaid is that it provides everything to it's users...slip and hurt your back? Call an ambulance to get to the ER rather than paying for a cab. There are NO limits to the medications that may be prescribed, as opposed to only allowing off-patent meds for routine medical problems like hypercholesterolemia or hypertension. People with no visible means of support are having children at alarming rates, at no cost to themselves.
Here in MO, there was a great amount of wailing and knashing of teeth when Blunt made even small adjustments to the state's medicaid system.
You can thank Bush and the Rino's in the senate for this mess.
?!?
#2. Health Insurance is a "SELLER'S MARKET!" There is NO Rational need for a "Health Insurance Company" to advertise to the General Public. "Health Insurance Ads" are Targeted at the Companies who provide Insurance; the ads are attempts to persuade companies to change vendors. #3 ALL Insurance company advertising HAS TO skim Funds from Patient Care.
I Believe we're talking about Tens of Millions of Dollars---WASTED!!
Doc
I wish people would stop saying COSTS when they mean SPENDING. There is a big difference.
Under federal rules, a family of four can earn as much as $40,000 a year in most states and still get government health insurance for children
Who knew that $40K was "low-income"?
Oregon is doing one better, converting an OTC cold medicine to prescription. The government will now pay for the drug which will be turned into meth instead of the druggy having to buy it out of pocket. There will be an additional doctor bill to get the Rx that the government will be picking up.
Oregon, things look different here. We're not only corrupt, we're stupid.
I think that we would all be shocked if this was examined closely. The whole system is rotten to the core and has put health care out of reach for many in the middle class. Please note, I am not blaming Doctors, as that is one area where the fees still seem reasonable.
There was a time when a person could afford a trip to emergency or even a day or two in the hospital. Not any more. Thievery at hospitals has truly become an art. This is an area in need of serious reform. Most people never see it because insurance and Medicaid hide the costs and spreads it out over many.
You miss the point. Spending more for more medical care (like more tests, or MRIs, etc) isn't the same thing as spending more for the same medical care.
See the difference?
I have just returned from visiting a friend in Costa Rica. While I was there we stopped by a local pharmacy, he walk in, picked up his monthly supply of blood pressure meds, paid around $5 and walked out. No perscription, no insurance, no hassle. How do you know that's the right stuff I asked; he told me his doctor has prescribed it and told him that as long as he felt fine to just come in for his semi-annual physical.
That is how real world medicine works. Alot of what we have in the states are simply unnecessary medical testing performed to provide legal paper trail in the event of a lawsuit. It is also true that when you do surgery here you may have to pay tens of thousands of dollars just for the insurance bond for your specific surgery on that day. Fear and risk avoidance is the major driver of cost in the US; and it will remain that way until we deal with tort reform.
"Some experts blame the growth of Medicaid on 1996's landmark welfare reform legislation, which moved millions of welfare recipients off the welfare rolls and into low paying jobs. "
SOME EXPERTS LOL! All these people got jobs and then got sick of injured so they wouldn't have to work??
Perhaps you missed the major tort reform bill they passed at the beginning of the year. The ABA went nuts.
OF all the tort reform suggested...it did more to curb bogus suits than anything.
It keeps the big cases from going to 3 specific courts.
One of them is in South East Texas.
The judges are nationally known for being "pals" of plaintiff attys.
Meaning that a few bucks of kickback will more than guarantee a smooth ride.
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