October 5, 2010

Reports Show Medicaid Spending, Enrollment Up
States reported an 8.8 percent average increase in Medicaid spending in fiscal year 2010, the highest in eight years, according to a report by the Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured. States budgeted for an average 7.4 percent increase in spending in fiscal year 2011, which began July 1. In fiscal year 2010, 39 states implemented a Medicaid cut or freeze for health care providers, and 37 plan similar actions in 2011. During the first two years of the recession, beginning December 2007, Medicaid enrollment increased by nearly 6 million. This past August, Congress extended a temporary increase in Medicaid’s Federal Medical Assistance Percentage for states through June 2011. A separate report released by the commission examines the staffing challenges in five states as they prepare for health reform implementation and expanded enrollment for Medicaid and state exchanges.

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