Medicaid facts
From the Bipartisan Policy Center and the Kaiser Family Foundation:
1) “ In 2003, the program provided coverage to one-fifth of all American children and paid for one-third of all childbirths. In some states, such as Texas, Medicaid pays for over half of all births.”
2) “Medicaid is a dual federal-state program to administer health benefits to low-income Americans. Because states are responsible for administering the Medicaid program, Medicaid is more accurately described as 50 different programs.”
3) “On average, the federal government pays 57% of a state’s Medicaid program costs, but that number can be as high as 75% in some poorer states.”
4) “Twenty states implemented benefit restrictions in the past year. In fiscal year 2010, 39 states implemented Medicaid provider rate cuts or freezes (up from 33 in fiscal year 2009), and 37 states have provider rate restrictions planned for the next fiscal year.”
5) “Starting in 2014, all Americans up to 133% of the federal poverty level will be eligible for Medicaid. If a state violates the requirement to maintain eligibility levels (called “maintenance of effort” or “MOE”), that state will lose all federal matching funding for its entire Medicaid program until the violation is corrected.”
Related: Don’t worry about Medicare. Worry about Medicaid.
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