Studies: Medicaid Rolls, Improper Payments Expand Hurting State Budgets

The government’s Medicaid program rolls have reportedly inflated, growing into a money drain for many state budgets, Fox Business reported Sunday.

Improper payments have also grown, a result of ineligible patients state officials have balked at removing, data from the Foundation for Government Accountability (FGA) showed.

In its study published Monday, the FGA said:

Facing the COVID-19 pandemic and government-imposed lockdowns, states experienced major fiscal uncertainty in the spring of 2020.¹ In response, Congress offered states a 6.2 percent bump to their traditional Medicaid funding in the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA).² But that extra funding came with strings attached—strings woven around states’ Medicaid programs to form restrictive handcuffs.³ In order to receive the extra funding, states cannot change eligibility standards, adjust enrollment processes, or remove individuals from their Medicaid rolls—even those who are ineligible for the program.^4
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Medicaid enrollment has soared to new record highs, reaching an estimated 91 million by December 2021.⁷ But nearly 90 percent of Medicaid enrollment growth has been driven by individuals who are ineligible for the program—yet continue to receive benefits because of the congressional handcuffs.⁸

According to Medicaid.gov, the program offers coverage to millions of citizens, “including eligible low-income adults, children, pregnant women, elderly adults and people with disabilities,” and the funds to pay for it come from states and the federal government.

In a study published in January, the FGA reported, “Medicaid has bloated into a massive welfare program for millions of able-bodied adults dependent upon the government.”

The foundation said the program quickly grew into the “largest line item in state budgets” that came out to over $700 billion a year.

This happened following the Medicaid expansion from the act known as ObamaCare, according to the Fox article.

The FGA report stated, “Today, more than one in five dollars spent on Medicaid is improper. Virtually all improper payments are due to eligibility errors, administrative oversights, or outright fraud.“

Meanwhile in July, several states with Democrat legislatures and governors lead regarding plans that give American taxpayer-funded health benefits to illegal alien seniors, “an effort likely to entice healthcare migration to the states,” Breitbart News reported.

Now, many of the improper payment rates happened before the coronavirus pandemic, therefore, researchers may not yet be able to pinpoint the exact number, Hayden Dublois, deputy research director for FGA, explained to Fox.

“It’s not a clear red state, blue state divide, but the two highest states for improper payments are states that expanded Medicaid under ObamaCare,” Dublois added.