FGA’s Countdown Clock Ticks Closer to 100 Million Enrolled in Medicaid
- BY Sarah Coffey
FGA’s Countdown Clock is running, and the media is taking notice.
As estimates of nationwide Medicaid enrollment tick upward towards 100 million enrollees, FGA is counting down to this lamentable milestone. At the time of publication, the United States will hit 100 million Medicaid enrollees in…
100 million is certainly no cause for celebration. It’s a clear indication that Medicaid enrollment is out of control. This number represents nearly one-third of the entire country’s population.
How did we get here? The simple answer is pro-dependency, anti-work policies.
In the wake of ObamaCare, all but 12 states have expanded Medicaid to able-bodied adults, adding millions to the program. And then, pandemic-era programs waived the work requirements for able-bodied adults to maintain their eligibility.
What’s worse is that pandemic-era Medicaid “handcuffs” prevented states from removing ineligible people from the rolls. This added more than 20 million individuals—a majority of whom are not eligible. Thankfully, states will be able to begin removing the ineligible this spring. But the damage is done, and the clock counts onward.
This massive growth in welfare benefits not only diverts resources away from the truly needy, and the populations for which Medicaid was initially intended, but its costs are so reliably out of control that the program always costs more than anticipated and crowds out other priorities in state budgets.
Even before the clock strikes 100 million, the hapless expansion of Medicaid has been a disaster of epic proportions. States should act this spring to reclaim control over their programs by removing the ineligible and taking other steps to ensure program integrity.
Here’s some of the recent coverage of our countdown to the grim milestone of 100 million on Medicaid…
- Washington Examiner Medicaid enrollment expected to hit 100 million early next year
- Daily Wire Medicaid Enrollment To Hit 100 Million, Include Nearly One-Third of Americans
- The Epoch Times 100 Million Americans to Be on Medicaid by March, Think Tank Projects
- CNS News Report: Medicaid Enrollees to Hit 100 Million in March, Nearly 1/3 of Population
- The Center Square Report: Soon 100 million U.S residents will be on Medicaid
It’s not just national news publications who have taken notice of FGA’s Countdown Clock. Local newspapers and broadcast news stations in more than 30 states (and Guam!) have covered this important issue.
