Lower Medicaid Spending Attracts Attention
As we have reported from time to time, Ohio Medicaid spending has been under budget for the entire period since the current state budget passed. The most recent state figures show that Medicaid expenditures are $121 million below the estimate for the first four months of Fiscal Year 2013. This week, the Columbus Dispatch reported that this fiscal year, Medicaid spending has grown only 2% over Fiscal Year 2012, which is 2.4% less than the state anticipated. State Medicaid Director John McCarthy was quoted in the article as cautioning that given the size of the Medicaid budget, the underspending is not that great. It does, however, come on the heels of similar results in the preceding fiscal year, which would seem to suggest a trend. Director McCarthy further commented that the state is seeing Medicaid reforms it put in place in last year’s budget bill coming to fruition. The improving economy probably is playing a part as well. One of the more interesting aspects of the Medicaid underspending picture is that the cost of the Aging Waivers component (primarily PASSPORT) is more than 10% below the budgeted mark. The Dispatch article notes that enrollment in PASSPORT is below expected levels, which also was the case last fiscal year. The phenomenon of lower PASSPORT enrollment is at odds with the planned shift of seniors from “institutional” long-term care to home care, but it could be the fallout of cuts to PASSPORT.