Medicaid enrollment falls as states expand program
Medicaid enrollment slipped by 0.5% in fiscal year 2007, but most states are planning to expand coverage in 2008, including long-term care services, according to a new survey from Kaiser Family Foundation's Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured (KCMU).
The decrease marks the first decline in Medicaid enrollment in nearly a decade. Some causes: requirements, which caused significant delays in processing applications; the good economy; and lower unemployment.In FY 2007, 35 states expanded long-term care services and 46 states plan to
do so in FY 2008. In both years, the most commonly reported expansions were
expanding existing home and community-based service waivers and adopting new
waivers.
