States Ask For Federal Help With Medicaid Insurance
RedOrbit recently reported that after many states have seen a significant increase in Medicaid enrollment since the beginning of the recession (Connecticut has seen a 6% increase this year), governors have asked Congress and President-Elect Barack Obama to help them pay for the publicly funded health insurance plan. The governors are petitioning for $40 billion to cover a shortfall in projected tax revenues, which would be a two-year long increase in the percentage Washington D.C. kicks in for medical funding. As of the 2007 fiscal year the federal goverment covers 57% of Medicaid costs while individual states cover the rest.
Medicaid is offered to children and the extremely poor; about 1 in 6 low income individuals in America are enrolled. Rising unemployment has resulted in more people being eligible for Medicaid, while at the same time state governments are suffering from lower tax revenues. Unlike the federal government, states aren’t allowed to run a budget deficit. If the states don’t recieve this funding, they will either have to cut programs or raise taxes in order to balance their budgets. While most unemployed individuals can buy into group health insurance plans, the majority cannot afford the premiums without an employer paying some part of them.
