Nearly 3.3 million more people were enrolled in state Medicaid programs in June 2009 compared to the previous June, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation’s Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured.
The increase – the largest one-year increase in Medicaid history – boosted the June monthly Medicaid enrollment by 7.5 percent to 46.9 million people.
For the first time since the early 1990s, every state experienced an increase in Medicaid enrollment, and in 32 states enrollment grew at least twice as fast as the year before, according to the Kaiser analysis.
Many people have turned to the program for help after being laid off and losing their employer-based health insurance. Millions more who were not eligible for Medicaid likely joined the ranks of the nation’s uninsured.
“State Medicaid programs have been able to help millions of Americans who have nowhere else to turn in a recession,” said Diane Rowland, executive vice president of the foundation and executive director of the KCMU. “But the states obviously face significant fiscal pressures as increases in enrollment push up costs at a time when state budgets are already severely constrained.”
Another recent Kaiser survey of state Medicaid directors found that 44 states and the District of Columbia are experiencing higher-than-expected program enrollment, resulting in increased spending for fiscal year 2010. At least 29 states say they are considering additional mid-year cuts in provider rates and program benefits.
Enhanced federal matching money for Medicaid, provided through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, has helped states maintain coverage, but that money is scheduled to expire on Dec. 31, 2010. This is expected to increase the strain on state fiscal year 2011 budgets, Medicaid directors reported.
Although Medicaid enrollment is on the rise, costs of the program as measured on a per-person basis are not climbing at a faster rate than health costs. In past recessions, after the economy has improved, Medicaid enrollment growth has slowed and sometimes contracted, suggesting that the record rate of enrollment growth seen in 2009 will eventually subside.