Tuesday, August 30, 2005 :::
More on Sanford and Medicaid Reform
From Brendan Miniter, writing in the Wall Street Journal:
About one million people in his state, or one in four South Carolinans, receive Medicaid benefits each year, at a cost of $4 billion in combined federal and state dollars. Medicaid consumes about 19% of South Carolina's budget. Within a decade the state will see 29% of its budget disappear into Medicaid.
That trajectory is clearly unsustainable, so last year Mr. Sanford rolled out a preliminary plan to create private Medicaid accounts that individuals would use to buy health insurance. The details are still being worked out, and the size of each account will vary widely depending on individual circumstances. But the idea is simple: Give most adults about what Medicaid spends on them now, approximately $4,000 a year, and let them shop around. If they find insurance for less than what's in their account, they can spend the remainder on other health care needs.
The South Carolina legislature still has to have its say on these changes, and so, too, does the federal government. But at least Sanford is trying to apply some market discipline to the problem.
Meanwhile, where are Virginia's lawmakers on the issue? As Jim Bacon
notes, they are busily discovering new ways to spend even more money...a lot of that on education (which received an unprecedented in-flow of money in 2004. Eh, we'll just feed the beast more).
Virginia's political class would be well advised to look around and see what other states are doing to try to get a grip on spending. If not, we may find ourselves in another marathon mud-fight over higher taxes. Which would, no doubt, suit some people just fine.
::: posted by Norman Leahy at 8/30/2005
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