No Heavy Lifting to Bring Medicaid Back to Pre-COVID Days

The budget data indicates that a cut of between $500 and $800 billion in Medicaid will be necessary for Trump’s "beautiful" tax bill to pass. Trump's "big, beautiful bill," is said to contain massive tax and spending cuts.

That shouldn’t be hard to do.

Medicaid grew out of all proportion to the budget when COVID-19 hit and governors raced to expand the program to cover everyone who was not already in Obamacare, Medicare, or private health insurance.

To expand Medicaid, they basically waived eligibility requirements and signed everybody up. The federal government, panicked as we all were, raised the reimbursement rate to 90% from the 50%-60%most states had to pay.

As a result, Medicaid enrollment rose from 50 million 10 years ago to 90 million today.

We have only to restore the program to what it was before COVID-19 and not bake in the panicked, sudden expansion of the Biden years.

Already, states have begun to cut back on Medicaid as COVID-19 has faded.

Since March, 2023 enrollment has dropped by 16 per cent, but it is still 11 percent higher than prior to COVID. There are now 79 million people enrolled in Medicaid/CHIP nationally.

But, politically, how do we cut the program, so it fits our nation's budgetary requirements?

Here’s how:

Work Requirements

The experience of the Clinton years suggests that welfare rolls dropped dramatically once work requirements were imposed on beneficiaries. How much more would enrollment drop if they were part of Medicaid?

If people were willing to opt out of an income maintenance program how much more willing would they be to leave coverage for healthcare that they may not need for years?

Lower Federal Reimbursement

Washington need not continue to reimburse 90% of Medicaid costs. The program was designed to feature a 50/50 federal/state match and should be restored to its original design.

If governors choose to step up and provide the extra revenue a 50/50 match would entail, there need be no cuts in beneficiaries or benefits.

It will be up to each state.

Curb Fraud, Abuse

Even the current lax enforcement of Medicaid, led to the collection of d$1.1 billion in civil and criminal suits in 2022.

Texas alone accounted for $219 million followed by California at $109 million.

It should not be a heavy lift to bring Medicaid back to its pre-COVID days.

Dick Morris is a former presidential adviser and political strategist. He is a regular contributor to Newsmax TV. Read Dick Morris' Reports — More Here.