Indiana Is Paying More In Medicaid Costs

fssa-indiana

INDIANAPOLIS – Indiana’s Medicaid enrollment is shrinking, yet costs are going up.

Last fiscal year’s Medicaid enrollment was Indiana’s lowest in three years, yet spending was up 800-million dollars. That’s a seven-percent increase, and the state’s Medicaid consulting firm Milliman predicts similar increases the next six years.

Christine Mytelka says while overall enrollment is down, long-term care is up, and that’s the most expensive area. She says the 85-thousand Hoosiers in Medicaid-funded nursing homes or other long-term services represent just five-percent of the welfare rolls, but 40-percent of Medicaid spending.

Indiana Medicaid director Allison Taylor says the state is trying to encourage community alternatives to long-term care. She says the state’s also trying to control costs elsewhere through preventive care. She points to the new navigator program for pregnant women in high-risk areas to get proper prenatal care.