Fifty years ago
today President Johnson signed the Medicaid program into law. The program
now covers one in five Connecticut residents with efficient, quality care. Since
switching from a capitated, insurer-based program to a self-determined,
care-focused program in January 2012, costs are stable (down slightly) per
person, quality is up (fewer people are going to the ER for non-urgent
problems), and 32% more providers are participating. It took the efforts of many
advocates over more than a decade, and it was difficult, but we finally
made that switch happen. And good health is a powerful thing. Children covered
by Medicaid are more likely to finish school and have higher earnings as
adults. In one study, economists
estimated that just the taxes on the higher earnings of those adults make up
the cost of Medicaid coverage for children now on the program. So Happy
Birthday to Medicaid – especially to the many professionals that provide that
healing care. Many many thanks to Connecticut’s Medicaid providers.
