Research Conducted at Brigham and Women’s Hospital Has Provided New Information about Medicare and Medicaid (Federal Funding Insulated State Budgets…

Research Conducted at Brigham and Women's Hospital Has Provided New Information about Medicare and Medicaid (Federal Funding Insulated State Budgets From Increased Spending Related To Medicaid Expansion)

By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Managed Care Weekly Digest -- Investigators discuss new findings in Medicare and Medicaid. According to news reporting from Boston, Massachusetts, by NewsRx journalists, research stated, "As states weigh whether to expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and Medicaid reform remains a priority for some federal lawmakers, fiscal considerations loom large. As part of the ACA's expansion of eligibility for Medicaid, the federal government paid for 100 percent of the costs for newly eligible Medicaid enrollees for the period 2014-16."

The news correspondents obtained a quote from the research from Brigham and Women's Hospital, "In 2017 states will pay some of the costs for new enrollees, with each participating state's share rising to 10 percent by 2020. States continue to pay their traditional Medicaid share (roughly 25-50 percent, depending on the state) for previously eligible enrollees. We used data for fiscal years 2010-15 from the National Association of State Budget Officers and a difference-in-differences framework to assess the effects of the expansion's first two fiscal years. We found that the expansion led to an 11.7 percent increase in overall spending on Medicaid, which was accompanied by a 12.2 percent increase in spending from federal funds. There were no significant increases in spending from state funds as a result of the expansion, nor any significant reductions in spending on education or other programs."

According to the news reporters, the research concluded: "States' advance budget projections were also reasonably accurate in the aggregate, with no significant differences between the projected levels of federal, state, and Medicaid spending and the actual expenses as measured at the end of the fiscal year."

For more information on this research see: Federal Funding Insulated State Budgets From Increased Spending Related To Medicaid Expansion. Health Affairs, 2017;36(5):938-944. Health Affairs can be contacted at: Project Hope, 7500 Old Georgetown Rd, Ste 600, Bethesda, MD 20814-6133, USA (see also Medicare and Medicaid).

Our news journalists report that additional information may be obtained by contacting B.D. Sommers, Brigham & Women's Hospital, Boston, MA 02115, United States.

Keywords for this news article include: Boston, Massachusetts, United States, North and Central America, Medicare and Medicaid, Health Policy, Medicaid, Brigham and Women's Hospital.

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