Practice Economics
Medicaid expansion leads to better access to care
Key clinical point: Medicaid expansion improved self-reported health outcomes and access to care. Major finding: By 2015 there was a 6 percentage...
State spending on Medicaid in fiscal 2017 was up 6.1% over 2016, and the program’s share of state budgets increased for the fifth year in a row, according to the National Association of State Budget Officers.
Total spending by the states on Medicaid benefits for more than 74 million individuals was an estimated $574 billion in 2017, which represented 29% of all expenditures. That compares with 28.7% in 2016 and 23.6% in 2012 – the last year that Medicaid’s share of state spending decreased, NASBO said in its annual State Expenditure Report.
Enrollment rose by 2.9% from 2016 to 2017, which was down from the 3.9% increase seen from 2015 to 2016. Since October 2013, Medicaid enrollment is up 38% in expansion states and 12% in nonexpansion states, the report noted.
Enrollment increases are “the major driver” of spending growth, NASBO said, and “Medicaid’s annual spending growth from all fund sources has averaged 8.1% over the past 5 years, while the rest of total spending growth has averaged 2.2% annually.”
