National Medicaid enrollment and spending growth are expected to rise in fiscal year 2014, driven by improving economic conditions and the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, according to a Kaiser Family Foundation report.
Kaiser surveyed Medicaid officials in all 50 states and the District of Columbia concerning spending, enrollment and policy initiatives for fiscal years 2013 and 2014. Based on that survey, enrollment growth is expected to average 8.8 percent across all states in 2014.
Furthermore, the survey found state legislatures authorized total Medicaid spending growth that averaged 10.3 percent for fiscal year 2014. The average annual spending growth rate is 13 percent for states planning to expand Medicaid under the healthcare reform law, compared with 6.8 percent for states that aren't expanding their programs.
Forty-five states reported eligibility and enrollment expansions planned for fiscal year 2014. Of those states, 25 are expanding Medicaid under the PPACA to cover nearly all low-income people earning up to 138 percent of the federal poverty level. Eight others plan to expand Medicaid in ways other than the healthcare reform law's optional extension of the program.
Additionally, 38 states plan to change the enrollment process beyond the changes included in the PPACA. These changes mostly involve states enacting new options to streamline enrollment authorized by CMS earlier this year, according to the report.
Thirteen states said they will restrict Medicaid eligibility in 2014, although the new limitations will mostly target non-disabled adults who will be eligible for subsidized health insurance coverage through the PPACA exchanges.
For more information, view the full report here.
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