“It’s time to take control of Medicaid before it takes control of us. Unless we act — and there is little evidence that we will — Medicaid increasingly becomes another mechanism by which government skews spending toward the old and away from the young. In the raging debate over the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare), this is a subject that neither Republicans nor Democrats dare touch. It’s an ominous omission that obscures the overhaul Medicaid really needs.”

LTC Comment (from Stephen A. Moses, President, Center for Long-Term Care Reform):
Excellent column except for his recommendation that the feds take over the senior LTC side of Medicaid and leave acute care for poor women and children to the states. Two problems with that. The feds aren’t stupid enough to do it so it won’t happen. Secondly, the feds wouldn’t fix the problem which is that too many people end up on Medicaid because of easy eligibility after they need care. The states would fix that problem under block grants because they’d have to do to keep costs down. That would remove the perverse incentives that discourage responsible LTC planning and result in better care for rich, poor and in between.

Medicaid is out of control. Here’s how to fix it.

#goldencareagent