Politics and Money

[StephanieVanbryce]

Don't forget this __The ACA expands Medicaid eligibility to all Americans under age 65 whose family income is at or below 133 percent of federal poverty guidelines ($14,483 for an individual and $29,725 for a family of four) by 2014. Childless adults will make up a large percentage of the newly eligible population that is estimated to total about 16 million. In 2014, the ACA will require all states to use “Modified Adjusted Gross Income (MAGI)” for eligibility determination which eliminates resource tests and applies a 5 percent income disregard effectively raising the eligibility level to 138 percent of poverty for most applicants. Another provision affecting Medicaid eligibility is the “maintenance of effort” requirement for all states to maintain Medicaid eligibility levels that were in place on March 23, 2010.

In 2011, nearly every state took steps to contain Medicaid costs. However, states are not just cutting to meet budget demands. Looking toward the 2014 eligibility expansion of Medicaid as dictated by the ACA, state lawmakers are exploring innovative ways to improve the value of the Medicaid program. To improve quality, states are aligning incentives with their desired outcomes and experimenting with new payment models, such as attaching provider payments to patients’ health outcomes and with new delivery systems by creating medical homes and streamlining services for those eligible for both Medicaid and Medicare.

http://www.ncsl.org/issues-research/health/medicaid-home-page.aspx

This is from the NEJM.. It's very informative .. and not long.

Expanding Eligibility, Cutting Costs — A Medicaid Update

January 2012
http://www.nejm.org/doi/pdf/10.1056/NEJMp1113561