Many people don’t have the first idea about things that are going bad in terms of pulling functional support and monetary influence by the government in the USA. If you thought that social security finances are taking the fall or Medicare was on the line, wait until you hear about Medicaid.
The general difference between the two is that Medicare offers support for people above the age of 65 or below it with a disability regardless of their income status. Medicaid, on the other hand, provides health coverage to very low-income people.
Medicaid covers about 75 million lower-income individuals in the USA or every 1 in 5 people and is funding more than one-third of all the births.
Problems with Medicaid making it go down in flames
The federal government started the Medicaid program back in 1965, and its sole purpose was to help people with low income and those who don’t have access to the private healthcare system.
As years passed, the ratio of older people and those who didn’t have the necessary budget to cover themselves with health insurance kept on rising, and the budget cuts were made, making the program crippled.
It is not entirely out of working as we speak; it has taken some heavy blow due to the demands being higher than the supply. However, more and more Americans come under its shelter and add financial pressure that can’t be averted unless more money is added to the system.
According to an estimate, the Medicaid program will run out of money in 2030 or as soon as 2026.
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Performance of Federal Government over the years for Medicaid
The Federal Government, after the launch and success of the Medicaid program, continued to support it financially and morally, making it the finest healthcare program in America’s history.
But with life expectancy rising and more and more people coming under the umbrella of ‘low income individuals stat’ due to recessions and other financial meltdowns, the program’s load has increased significantly over the years.
The pressure to reduce the Medicaid program’s federal costs has provided them with a proposal to restrict Medicaid funding or change the program into a block grant or per capita cap.
This per-capita block grant system would introduce a dedicated sum of money for the Medicaid program per enrollee, and the ratio would change depending on the enrollee category. Such as blind, aged, and disabled enrollee would get more money than healthy adults.
So far, this is the progressive continuation of the Medicaid program to spend money based on the categorical reach of the enrollees and who deserves it the most depending on their healthcare and monetary situation.
Final Thoughts
The endgame is near for the Medicaid program because this way, it can only level with increasing demand. Still, the risk of funding shortfalls is also lingering above our heads if the per-capita block grant is tied to the growth rate, which is sincerely less than the healthcare cost. If the same drift continues, then the program will be shut down before 2030; but there is some hope that things might not come to it.