Medicaid Reform and the Return of Rosy Scenario
Gregory L. Schneider
 
It's always easier for governments to justify spending money when the funding is provided by someone else, such as the federal government.  It's still taxpayer money, of course, but state and local governments sometimes treat federal money as 'free money.'
A recent study showcasing the potential impact of federal health reform on Kansas, authored by schramm-raleigh Health Strategy (srHS) and commissioned by the Kansas Health Policy Authority, displays the above tendency all too well. The study was released to the Kansas Health Policy Board on May 18 and to a group of invited health policy stakeholders at the Kansas Health Institute in Topeka the next day.
One of the major findings in the study is that by 2020 the uninsured in Kansas will drop by 191,000. According to the data, there will be an increase of 96,000 people in the large employer insurance market, a decrease of 108,000 in the small group market, an additional 73,000 in individual health insurance market (purchased through the subsidized exchanges to be created in each state by 2014), and an increase of 130,000 into public insurance (Medicaid, SCHIP, or other programs). The study looked at those Kansans under age 65 so did not include Medicare estimates.