Cal Watch: Although California officials insisted that expanding Medi-Cal coverage has been an economic boon, critics and Sacramento Republicans warned that the program’s staggering growth has created a costly, nettlesome problem for a state already strapped with challenges.
The Golden State has seen more than triple the expected enrollment under the Obamacare-authorized expansion of Medicaid, a surge of over 2 million. “Beyond that,” the Associated Press reported, “a record number of people who already qualified for the low-income health program signed up, pushing overall enrollment in the state’s Medicaid program known as Medi-Cal past 12 million to roughly 1 in 3 Californians.”The boom has kicked costs up by nearly $24 billion. And though the federal government has picked up a big chunk of the additional tab, tax increases have already been put on the table. “California will see costs continue to grow as the federal government reduces its matching rate,” California Healthline cautioned.The cost struggle
While legislators have crunched the numbers, regulators have labored to understand just how poorly the new health care regime matches up with the demand it has created. In an effort to control costs, California “has relied heavily on managed care insurance companies,” the San Francisco Chronicle noted in a report on the state’s struggles to come with Medi-Cal demand. Under the current approach, California “pays insurers a fixed amount per patient and expects the companies to provide access to doctors and comprehensive care, rather than paying for each medical visit or procedure under a fee-for-service model.”
Well, good thing the Swamp is paying us the $24 billion, or make the $240 billion nationwide. The Swamp is facing a run of inflated prices on its Obamacare payouts, taxes won't keep up. Its election time and which politician is going to allow another 20% increase in debt/GDP ratio? The Swamp is getting a quick slowdown on tax collections soon.
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