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‘Build Back Better’ Plan Would Make Medicaid Bigger With Less Flexibility, Accountability

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Published October 15, 2021 10:18am ET
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‘Build Back Better’ Plan Would Make Medicaid Bigger With Less Flexibility, Accountability
Marine veteran Mercedies Harris speaks during a rally in support of Medicaid expansion at Capitol Square in Richmond, Va., on Saturday, March, 15, 2014. People attending Saturday's rally carried signs reading "We need Medicaid expansion now" and chanted, "Get sick, go broke, unacceptable." They also heard from two military veterans, a fast-food worker and a child-care provider who fall into what advocates call the Medicaid "coverage gap." The Medicaid disagreement caused the General Assembly to adjourn a week ago without passing the $96 billion two-year state budget. Gov. Terry McAuliffe and his fellow Democrats in the General Assembly want a budget that includes accepting federal Medicaid funds to expand coverage to as many as 400,000 additional residents. Republicans who control the House of Delegates oppose expansion. (AP Photo/Richmond Times-Dispatch,Mark Gormus) | Mark Gormus

Alot of transformative health care policy is embedded in Democrats’ $3.5 trillion social spending bill, including continuation of the Biden administration’s campaign to strip away state flexibility and consolidate greater federal control over Medicaid.

Medicaid, the joint federal-state program to provide health care services to certain low-income Americans, has seen an explosion in enrollment and spending.

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