December 12, 2016
The report, entitled Managing Spending in Virginia’s Medicaid Program, leads with the following headline – Medicaid spending growth continues to pressure general fund budget, but spending per enrollee has been flat, accounting for inflation. This is an interesting and critical point in our discussions with legislators. The data for FY11 to FY15 as presented in the body of the report is:
- Nominal Growth = 18.12%
- Inflation-adjusted Growth = 8.27%
- Per Enrollee Inflation-adjusted Growth = .36%
While the report suggests that Medicaid could do more to control costs, especially in the Managed Care Contracts, and that fact is central to the response to the report released this afternoon by The Speaker’s Office, it is important to note that the primary driver of Medicaid spending growth is increased enrollment. The report is available
here.