The June 2016 Report to Congress on Medicaid and CHIP focuses on Medicaid spending and financing, reflecting concerns among some policymakers, including the chairs of congressional committees with an interest in Medicaid, about the growth and sustainability of the program as it becomes a larger share of both federal and state budgets.
The first three chapters of the June 2016 report examine trends in Medicaid spending, state actions affecting the program’s spending trajectory, and alternative approaches to change federal financing. The analyses contain new information on spending trends, consider how federal and state policy choices influence spending, and consider design issues in changing the current method of federal financing to other methods that cap the federal government’s contribution in various ways. The chapters also discuss spending and financing issues in the context of Medicaid’s multiple roles—providing access to medical care for low-income Americans, covering long-term services and supports (LTSS), and wrapping around other sources of coverage, as well as serving as a critical source of revenue for safety-net providers delivering care to both Medicaid beneficiaries and the uninsured.
The final chapter of the June report describes state use of functional assessment tools that Medicaid programs use to determine applicants’ eligibility and create care plans for them.
