States Should Perform Medicaid Redeterminations to Reduce Cost and Ensure Eligibility
- BY FGA
Naples, FL—New research from the Foundation for Government Accountability (FGA) highlights the importance of states’ ability to conduct Medicaid redeterminations. The report outlines why states should begin performing redeterminations as soon as possible after the Medicaid handcuffs are removed.
Medicaid enrollment in the United States is at an all-time high, with an estimated 95 million people receiving benefits as of June 2022. During the public health emergency, the federal government offered a 6.2 percent bump to Medicaid funding, but only on the condition that states’ cannot remove those who are no longer eligible for Medicaid from the rolls. These Medicaid “handcuffs” locked millions of ineligible recipients into the Medicaid program, leading to increased taxpayer costs.
If states continue to accept the additional federal funding to defray some of this cost, or until the public health emergency ends, there will continue to be millions of ineligible enrollees on Medicaid, siphoning resources from the truly needy and causing taxpayer costs to skyrocket.
Alli Fick, the Research Director at FGA and co-author of the paper with Jonathan Ingram, FGA Vice President of Policy and Research, remarked:
“With Medicaid enrollment skyrocketing and the cost to taxpayers growing daily, states should work to unlock the handcuffs placed on them by the federal government for the sake of their constituents. Having nearly a third of the country on Medicaid is not only unsustainable since many enrollees would normally be ineligible, but it also pulls resources away from our most vulnerable citizens who truly need programs like Medicaid and the services they provide.”
States can and should act now to alleviate the impending costs that will be transferred to their constituents if the Medicaid handcuffs are not removed.
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The Foundation for Government Accountability (FGA) is a non-profit, multi-state think tank that promotes public policy solutions to create opportunities for every American to experience the American Dream. To learn more, visit TheFGA.org.
