11.4: Medicaid Safety-Net

Cover low-income nondisabled individuals and families through the credit/assistance.

Other Information:

New Medicaid Safety-Net Program. In the Heritage plan, low-income nondisabled individuals and families currently on Medicaid, are covered through the credit/assistance. Low-income disabled and elderly continue to receive care and assistance through Medicaid. For the Medicaid-eligible elderly and the disabled, federal Medicaid acute and long-term care spending is converted into a capped federal allotment to the state. Total federal Medicaid spending is set at its 2007 levels beginning in 2014, after the recovery is solid and unemployment at a normal level, and is adjusted for medical inflation thereafter. In exchange for the capped federal allotment, states are granted considerable new flexibility to manage and administer the restructured Medicaid program to meet its mutual federal and state objectives. This means that states are granted broad discretion and authority to meet general objectives and outcome measures. States that wish to try very different approaches to better serve and improve health care quality for these key populations would have additional authority beyond the normal waiver process. While states receive an allotment from the federal government, they still need to use their own funds to achieve agreed goals for providing care and services for the elderly and disabled on Medicaid. However, if states use innovative approaches that require less state spending than is now the case under the current Medicaid formula that determines the state share (known as FMAP), they can keep the savings and spend them on state priorities or provide tax breaks to their citizens.

Stakeholder(s):

• Low-Income Nondisabled Individuals

Indicator(s):

Indicator:1

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