The Need for Medicaid Reform, By the Numbers
$1,139,000,000,000—Minimum amount that Medicaid would continue to grow over the next ten years under the House-passed budget resolution and the existing Congressional Budget Office (CBO) baseline, belying the notion that the budget would “cut” Medicaid spending
7,000,000—Enrollment growth since the COVID pandemic; in May 2019, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimated that 77 million people would enroll in Medicaid in 2025, compared to a January estimate of 84 million enrolled this year
$0—Amount of general fund dollars that states like Colorado and New Hampshire have used to finance their Medicaid expansion to able-bodied adults, due to the prevalence of provider tax and other funding gimmicks
70%—Percentage of individuals determined presumptively eligible for Medicaid by hospitals who were later found ineligible or never completed an enrollment application, according to a Foundation for Government Accountability study
$817,000,000,000—Growth in the projected Medicaid baseline from June 2024 to January 2025, according to CBO, meaning that $880 billion in deficit reduction will reduce Medicaid to roughly the same size CBO projected last year
3,000-5,000—Number of enrollees dropping private coverage every month in one state (Louisiana) during its initial months of expansion, meaning that roughly one-third of expansion enrollees cancelled private coverage to go on the government rolls
$8,400,000,000—Spending by California on Medicaid coverage for undocumented immigrants during the fiscal year ending this June 30
$4,300,000,000—Duplicative spending on individuals enrolled in Medicaid in multiple states from 2019-2021, according to a recent Wall Street Journal analysis
$1,084,125,830,000—Comprehensive estimate of improper payments within Medicaid over the past ten years, including the impact of state errors regarding enrollment eligibility, according to a Paragon Health Institute policy brief