Politician logic: Since Medicaid is going broke let’s put more people on it. Man on the street: But won’t that double the crisis? Politician: Yes, I mean maybe. But… I get points for covering more people. (Even if they don’t get the care they need, I get to say “they have gained insurance.”)
The intent of Medicaid was to help the poorest Americans. Its costs were rising before Obamacare. but Obamacare caused the increases to be even steeper. And the needy are getting poor care and poor availability.
Meanwhile it is not serving those it was intended for. While Illinois expanded the population eligible, 800 of those previously eligible died - died - while on waiting lists, according to Foundation for Government Accountability.
A start would be refocusing Medicaid on its original mission of caring for the poor and those unable to do it for themselves. That means changing the program’s incentives to allow people more responsibility for their own health outcomes. It also means giving states the freedom to explore options like health savings accounts, direct primary care for Medicaid patients, and systems to remove enrollees who abuse the program.
WSJ Requires subscription, I am afraid.
What’s particularly perverse is that ObamaCare pays states more for the able-bodied adults newly covered under the Medicaid expansion than for people with serious disabilities under the original program.
