New at Reason: Peter Suderman on Medicaid’s Failures

August 6, 2010

Imagine a government-run health care program in which medical access is severely limited, that is racked by uncontrollably rising costs, and that in many instances results in demonstrably worse health outcomes than having no insurance at all. Such a program isn’t a mere hypothetical; it already exists, and it’s called Medicaid. One might imagine that a program of such rotten pedigree might be ripe for reform, or even for trimming back. If so, one would imagine wrong. Just yesterday, the Senate voted to put $16 billion toward extending a temporary boost in Medicaid funding contained in the stimulus. Meanwhile, the Obama administration’s signature achievement—the new health care law—relies on an expansion of Medicaid for fully half of its projected increase in insurance coverage. According to the Congressional Budget Office, thanks to ObamaCare, 16 million new individuals are projected to enroll in Medicaid by the end of the decade, and many experts believe that those estimates are low.

We’re not making Medicaid better, and we’re certainly not scaling it down. Instead, writes Associate Editor Peter Suderman, we’re making it bigger—and worse.

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