By Martha Heberlein
In tough economic times as people lose jobs and health coverage, public programs are there, by design, to fill the need. A set of important reports released yesterday from the Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured drives home this message.
The annual survey of state Medicaid officials found that states had an average increase in Medicaid spending of 8.8 percent, the highest rate of growth in eight years and well above Medicaid directors’ original projections of 6.3 percent growth. They attributed the unexpected jump to the increased enrollment among newly-eligible families due to the recession, which has pushed the national unemployment rate above 10 percent.
Medicaid was developed as a companion program to Medicare, with Medicare providing core health care coverage for seniors and Medicaid aiding seniors in need of long-term care, children with severe health care needs and families in poverty who otherwise could not afford health care. As health care coverage has grown more expensive and family incomes have stagnated, Medicaid has filled an important role, by providing coverage for families above the poverty line, but still in great need. With more Americans struggling to find work, Medicaid is providing vital health coverage for more individuals and families.
A companion piece, also developed by the Kaiser Commission, found that Medicaid enrollment increased by nearly 6 million people since the start of the economic downturn in December 2007. Thankfully, states had additional federal help through ARRA to ensure that as the number of Americans in need of health coverage rose, Medicaid could handle the increased need. Despite increasing demands on the program brought about by the troubled economy, Medicaid directors reported that they were able to maintain the program’s core mission and objectives.
Executive Director of the Commission, Diane Rowland, may have said it best, “the recession swamped state budgets and Medicaid programs, but with the extra federal aid, Medicaid helped millions of additional people as intended during tough times.”