A pair of faculty members at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government are suggesting Medicaid be split into two programs – one supporting the indigent, the other funding long-term care for the elderly and disabled.
“If Congress fails to revise in some fundamental way who should set policies for Medicaid and for long-term custodial care and who should pay for them, the fiscal crises of the states will inevitably continue to be a large problem,” write Robert Behn and Elizabeth Keating in their newly released paper.
Medicaid is now the second-largest and fastest-growing component of state budgets. It accounts for 21% of state spending, up from 13% in 1990.
