States should refuse the feds’ ‘free money’ that’s creating huge, costly Medicaid rolls

[Geee]

NY Post

Last year, virtually every Republican governor opted out of the Biden administration’s unemployment bonus, which paid millions of people more than they made by working. Doing so saved taxpayers significant sums, preserved the unemployment system’s integrity and, most important, spurred people back into the workforce.

Now states should make a similar move that will have similar results: Refuse more federal “free money” that discourages work and creates excessive, expensive Medicaid rolls.

A new Foundation for Government Accountability report shines a light on the damage DC’s Medicaid handcuffs are doing to states. Congress created the restraints in March 2020’s Families First Coronavirus Response Act. The law offered states a 6.2% bump in federal Medicaid funding — but with strings attached. Among the many restrictions are provisions that block states from changing eligibility standards or processes that would strengthen the program’s integrity. Worst of all, for the first time in American history, states are prohibited from removing ineligible individuals from Medicaid.

The result has been predictable: a massive surge in Medicaid enrollment, driven by able-bodied adults.