WASHINGTON — The recession has fueled the greatest influx of Americans into Medicaid since the earliest days of the public insurance program for the poor, according to new findings that show caseloads have surged in every state.
More than 3 million people joined Medicaid in the fiscal year that ended in June, data released Thursday show. That pushed enrollment to a record 46.8 million, exacerbating the financial strains on already burdened states and complicating the federal politics of health care.
The analysis by the Kaiser Family Foundation, a health policy and research organization, found that in three-fifths of the jurisdictions, people rushed into the safety net for health coverage at more than twice the rate as the year before.
Because the program is large and expensive, the spurt in Medi caid caseloads has produced damaging effects. In the past year or two, many states have responded by reducing the medical services available to Medicaid patients or payments to doctors, hospitals and other providers of health care.
Now, 29 states are considering further reductions, or already have made them since their current fiscal year began, Thursday’s report said.
Such strains exist even though the federal government has been giving states extra money for Medicaid as part of the economic stimulus efforts Congress set in motion a year ago. The extra subsidies are due to expire at the end of this year, and states are lobbying hard to continue them for at least six more months. The Washington Post
