Medicaid Funding Reform: Impact on Dual Eligible Beneficiaries

This April 2017 analysis, produced by Avalere Health and funded by The SCAN Foundation, finds that recent proposals to limit per capita federal Medicaid funding growth based on medical inflation could lead to a $44 billion spending cut for dual eligible beneficiaries—or people who qualify for both Medicaid and Medicare—over the next 10 years. Capped funding proposals have been included as part of recent Affordable Care Act (ACA) repeal conversations in Congress. While the future of these legislative initiatives remains uncertain, policymakers are expected to continue considering Medicaid reforms, which could have a significant effect on beneficiaries, states, and Medicare.

Dual eligible individuals are some of the most medically complex, socially vulnerable, and financially costly in the health and long term care systems. Many community-based organizations, including Area Agencies on Aging, serve large numbers of the dually eligible. States could be forced to reduce coverage for these individuals if federal funding caps are set below expected cost growth.

Check out this report for a comprehensive summary of how proposed Medicaid cuts would have a devastating impact on dual eligible populations and the organizations that serve them.

 

View the resource: Medicaid Funding Reform: Impact on Dual Eligible Beneficiaries