Federal budget would win, but the most vulnerable and poor would lose, under capped Medicaid funding scenarios

The Trump administration ’s intent to reform Medicaid includes financing changes that would save hundreds of billions in federal dollars over time, but at the expense of cutting significant health care benefits to tens of millions of the program’s most vulnerable recipients — the disabled, children and elderly America ns, according to a new report from the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research.None of three “capped” financing systems — block grants, capped allotments and per capita caps — discussed in previous health proposals guarantees benefits for those who qualify for the low-income health program. All of them shrink real funding over time because the proposed growth formulas set the growth to a lower rate than what would be expected under current law. In contrast, the current Medicaid system guarantees benefits to all eligible enrollees and grows in response to increases in enrollment and health care costs.As a result of capping, states would have to choose whether to bear an increasingly larger share of Medicaid costs, cut patient benefits, create waiting lists, or institute other strict  requirements to limit enrollment, according to the study’s authors.“These are great plans for federal accountants. It’s a terrible plan for everyone else,” said center Director Gerald Kominski, co-author of the policy brief. “The decrease in funding will profoundly damage the ability of California — and other states — to cover beneficiaries as time goe...
Source: UCLA Newsroom: Health Sciences - Category: Universities & Medical Training Source Type: news