Right now, several states are cutting back on the amount of money that funds their Medicaid program. These cuts could impact people who newly enroll in Medicaid in 2014, and children who are enrolled in the Children’s Health Insurance Program. Doctor’s pay from Medicaid will also be reduced.
Around twenty four states are getting ready to dramatically reduce the funding for their Medicaid programs. Many will be cutting a minimum of $4.7 billion from Medicaid. One of the reasons why so many states will be doing this is because they have spent the past four years dealing with budget shortfalls for their Medicaid programs.
Many states are planning on placing more restrictions on the eligibility requirements for their enhanced Medicaid plans. This will affect the plans that are offering people health care coverage that goes beyond the amount of health care that all health insurance policies are required to cover.
Another affect that will happen as a result of funding cuts to Medicaid is the amount of money that the program will pay to doctors for the health care services they provide for patients who are covered by Medicaid. Doctors, hospitals, and other health care providers will see their reimbursement rates reduced by as much as 15%.
People who use Medicaid are likely to be expected to pay higher co-pays in the future. This includes children who are covered by Medicaid. All Medicaid beneficiaries could potentially lose coverage of preventative care, dental services, and vision services (or eye care). There are about 60 million people who are currently relying on Medicaid as their only form of health insurance coverage right now.
Medicaid is a federally run health insurance program, that is directly connected to the states. Specifically, the funding for Medicaid comes partially from the federal government, and partially from state’s own funds. Currently, Congress is working on ways to reduce the United States deficit. Some are predicting that one of the ways they will do that is cutting some of the federal funding of the Medicaid program. These cuts could total around $427 billion dollars.
The Children’s Health Insurance Program is another government run health insurance program. It provides health insurance coverage to children who do not qualify for coverage through Medicaid. It is expected that these two programs will gain around 17 million enrollees in 2014, when all Americans will be required to purchase health insurance. Will there be enough funding to cover everyone who is eligible for Medicaid? It seems unlikely.
Image by Public Domain Photos on Flickr