Dr. J. Mario Molina Discusses Medicaid Program Financing in Light of the On-Going COVID-19 Pandemic (August 11th)
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Listen Now Because the economy and the Medicaid program run counter cyclically or are negative correlated (when the economy falters, Medicaid enrollment increases ), to no one's surprise the COVID-19 pandemic's effect on the economy has put the Medicaid program in jeopardy. The US is experiencing the worst unemployment rate since the Great Depression causing state budgets, heavily reliant and income and sales taxes, to crater. (States, in sum, are looking at over $500 billion in revenue shortfalls between FY 2020 and FY 2022.) Simultaneously, Medicare enrollment is increasing, a Kaiser Family Foundation study found enrollment could increase by as much as 24 percent by this coming January, just as state funding for it dries up. All this explains why the Congress in March increased the federal government's Medicaid match or its funding share (termed FMAP) by 6%. The House in May, under its HEROES Act, increased the federal government's match to 14% and in addition appropriated more than $1 trillion to state and local governments, including $915 billion in flexible aid—which can be spent for any purpose. However, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell failed to take up the HEROES Act. The president's executive actions this past Saturday, even if they prove legal, ignore the Medicaid program. For FY 2021, that began July 1 for 46 states, the aggregate revenue shortfall exceeds $300 billion.
Dr. J. Mario Molina Discusses Medicaid Program Financing in Light of the On-Going COVID-19 Pandemic (August 11th)
Dr. J. Mario Molina Discusses Medicaid…
Dr. J. Mario Molina Discusses Medicaid Program Financing in Light of the On-Going COVID-19 Pandemic (August 11th)
Listen Now Because the economy and the Medicaid program run counter cyclically or are negative correlated (when the economy falters, Medicaid enrollment increases ), to no one's surprise the COVID-19 pandemic's effect on the economy has put the Medicaid program in jeopardy. The US is experiencing the worst unemployment rate since the Great Depression causing state budgets, heavily reliant and income and sales taxes, to crater. (States, in sum, are looking at over $500 billion in revenue shortfalls between FY 2020 and FY 2022.) Simultaneously, Medicare enrollment is increasing, a Kaiser Family Foundation study found enrollment could increase by as much as 24 percent by this coming January, just as state funding for it dries up. All this explains why the Congress in March increased the federal government's Medicaid match or its funding share (termed FMAP) by 6%. The House in May, under its HEROES Act, increased the federal government's match to 14% and in addition appropriated more than $1 trillion to state and local governments, including $915 billion in flexible aid—which can be spent for any purpose. However, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell failed to take up the HEROES Act. The president's executive actions this past Saturday, even if they prove legal, ignore the Medicaid program. For FY 2021, that began July 1 for 46 states, the aggregate revenue shortfall exceeds $300 billion.