Presidential Debate Brings Attention to State Medicaid Plans

GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney has pushed for Medicaid block grants that would significantly cut program spending and provide states with the ultimate flexibility to design the health care program without Washington meddling.
But the two examples of state Medicaid programs he cited as success stories during Monday’s debate don’t quite fit the mold of traditional block grants — at least not the kind that Republicans have been clamoring for.

N.Y.'s Medicaid Changes Are at Washington's Mercy

Depending on who is doing the talking these days, New York State is either a national model of how to curb Medicaid spending, or the nation’s prime example of Medicaid abuse.

Now billions of dollars in state revenue may ride on which image prevails, as presidential politics puts a new spotlight on the joint federal and state spending program for care of the disabled, the elderly and the poor.

No state spends more Medicaid money than New York — $54 billion a year. But Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, a Democrat, persuaded health care providers and major health worker unions to live within a strict Medicaid spending limit last year, and to accept an ambitious Medicaid redesign that promises better health outcomes at a lower cost.