States Fall for Medicaid Trap

States Fall for Medicaid Trap

Last week, the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform disclosed how state officials in New York scammed federal taxpayers out of billions of dollar by exploiting the Medicaid system.

The federal government matches dollar for dollar what a state spends on Medicaid. New York spends $5,118 per day per patient in state facilities for the mentally disabled, equivalent to $1.9 million a year per patient. “Personal care” for the home bound is a New York Medicaid benefit that includes grocery shopping and housekeeping, and it costs as much as $150,000 a year per recipient. Overall, New York spends more on Medicaid than the two most populous states in the U.S. — California and Texas — combined and hauls in more matching federal funds.

The congressional committee is calling for a federal investigation of New York’s Medicaid spending. But this isn’t just a New York problem.