Regarding “Don't tie Medicaid to ER discharge diagnoses: researchers”:
One thing about Medicaid costs: When I talk with state legislators, they very often forget that the dollars allotted for Medicaid in state budgets are exaggerated.
That is, they forget the Federal Medical Assistance Percentage funds. They know about it, but they forget.
That's often an artifact of Medicaid financing and accounting. States have to budget the full amount as “Medicaid,” but the FMAP dollars go into states' general funds, not into a separate Medicaid account. So state legislators don't get regular feedback on Medicaid's net costs to state taxpayers.
I'm not saying that Medicaid is inexpensive, only that states' shares are much less than many people believe.
Alan Sager, Ph.D.Professor of Health Policy and ManagementDirector, Health Reform ProgramBoston University School of Public Health
