Virginia facing high unexpected Medicaid costs

WAPO AP ^ | 11-2-18 | Alan Suderman | AP

[spintreebob]

Virginia is facing a huge bill for unexpected Medicaid costs that hamper proposed new spending on things like school improvements or tax breaks for the poor.

State officials said Friday that Virginia has about $460 million in unforeseen Medicaid costs.

The new costs, first reported by the Richmond Times-Dispatch, are unrelated to Virginia’s recent decision to expand Medicaid eligibility to low-income adults under the Affordable Care Act.

Instead, Secretary of Finance Aubrey Layne said much of the new costs stem from faulty forecasts overestimating the benefits of having private health insurers cover a greater number of some of the state’s more costly Medicaid recipients. Another reason for the increase is a higher-than-expected enrollment of children in the state’s Medicaid program, he said.

[spintreebob]

Unexpected? By whom? Didn't every think tank and Republican politician predict this.

Here in GA retiring Gov Deal did not expand because the cost was expected. If Abrams wins, she will soon discover that the math just does not work.

[Salvavida]

Those are called anchor babies.

[Lurkinanloomin]

Wasn’t unexpected to anyone with a lick of sense........

[fruser1]

That didn't take long. They voted to expand it last summer.

Isn't socialism great!

"After Years of Trying, Virginia Finally Will Expand Medicaid"

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/30/health/medicaid-expansion-virginia.html

[USNBandit]

On background, they shifted many of the Medicaid enrollees over to commercial managed care, like Aetna and BCBS.

The state has a massive waiting list for the disabled, and they chose to go the route of expanded Medicaid anyway, where the state ends up with a portion of the bill.

In most states with expanded Medicaid, the total enrolled in Obamacare was 1/3 new Medicaid, 1/3 expanded Medicaid, and 1/3 in an actual paid plan.

[Perseverando]

Hey Virginia, welcome to Demokkkrat Realville!

[lurk]

Unexpected. The most technologically advanced civ ever and we can’t see the train coming.

[ronnie raygun]

tax breaks for the poor. WHO PAY NO TAXES! And they scream when trump gives us tax breaks like we’re stealing from them

[Roccus]

Time for VA to start enforcing its Medicaid Estate Recovery laws.

Gonna hafta be a wholebunchalotta states doing that. Most have the laws already, but before Expanded Medicaid they were moot. Now there WILL be estates to tap into.

[BobL]

“The new costs, first reported by the Richmond Times-Dispatch, are unrelated to Virginia’s recent decision to expand Medicaid eligibility to low-income adults under the Affordable Care Act.”

I didn’t think much of Rick Perry in Texas, as he tried to flood the state with toll roads, built by his buddies (not to mention the Gardasil crap). But he did have enough conservative instinct to stay clear of the Medicaid expansion (figuring that we’d end up paying in some way) and Common Core (figuring anything ‘education’ related from DC is bad news).

Sadly, we still lost on Common Core as The Blob (as Thomas Sowell calls big education) has been able to work around Perry.

[frog in a pot]

Those are called anchor babies.

And, you and I and the rest of us are paying for VA's Dem-vote-buying generosity -

Medicaid is a federal-state collaboration that provides publicly funded health care to poor…
...the federal government to pay no less than 90 percent of the cost.
This budget is the culmination of five years of effort to bring our taxpayer dollars home from Washington and expand Medicaid...– VA Gov. Northam

[Carl Vehse]

"Virginia facing high unexpected Medicaid costs"

Having re-elected Tim Kaine, Virginia should face far worse than that.

[steve86]

Is our state (Washington) experiencing significant “unexpected costs”? If not, what accounts for the difference?

[rbg81]

Unexpected? you’d have to be blind not to see that one coming. Jeeze.....

[steve86]

Medicaid Estate Recovery laws

In a number of states including mine, the estate recovery procedure legally does not apply to Expanded Medicaid coverage. Even in the case of regular Medicaid and Medicaid payment to Medicare, enforcement occurs only to recover long-term care costs.

[USNBandit]

I moved for work and stopped watching Washington State. Eventually WA should see some rise in costs with Medicaid expansion. States eat about 10% of that, I think. They keep their coats down by denying coverage to 22,000 eligible disabled persons, despite all the tree hugging.

[setha]

More like a re-coronation at this point.

[kiryandil]

      

[kiryandil]

Secretary of Finance Aubrey Layne said much of the new costs stem from faulty forecasts overestimating the benefits of having private health insurers cover a greater number of some of the state’s more costly Medicaid recipients

Translation: "I'm dumber than a box of hammers when it comes to arithmetic..."

[kiryandil]

“Whoops, I “Kainesed” my adult diapers...”