Centerfield

"So that's why they keep cutting it"

From a report of the State Coverages Initiative

Medicaid represented the largest single category of state spending, consuming an estimated 21.9% of state budgets in fiscal 2004. By comparison, elementary and secondary education -- the largest category during the five years from 1999 to 2003 -- represented 21.5% of state expenditures in fiscal 2004, and higher education accounted for 10.5%.

Looking ahead, many states face not only an aging workforce and a budgetary time bomb in the guise of unfunded pension liabilities, but also an aging Medicaid population that will demand more expensive services like long-term care and prescription drugs

Overall, a good summary of how states are dealing with (or not) the growing numbers of uninsured and the growing costs of state-funded healthcare.

Poster's note "Boy this horse is REALLY dead!"