Make Medicaid better

Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum contends it's unconstitutional for the federal government to require Americans to buy health insurance, one of the key elements of the new national health-care plan. The courts will have to make that call.

But you don't need a law degree and a black robe to judge another contention from Mr. McCollum about the plan. Florida "simply cannot afford to do the things that are in this bill," he said. He's right — unless the state changes the way it's running its Medicaid program of health care for the poor and disabled.

In the past couple of years alone, a recession-driven surge in enrollment in the program has increased Medicaid's annual cost in Florida by more than $4 billion. This year the state will spend almost $19 billion, or about 28 percent of its budget, to cover 2.8 million Floridians. The soaring bill for Medicaid is a big reason why lawmakers are facing a $3 billion gap in next year's budget.

The newly passed federal plan will expand the program in Florida and other states to take in millions of uninsured Americans starting in 2014. Washington will cover the states' additional costs for the first three years before gradually shifting it back to them. In Florida, the state's costs from the expansion could reach $1.6 billion a year by 2019, when the program is projected to be serving another 1.5 million residents.

Now more than ever, state lawmakers need to revamp Medicaid to reduce its burden on taxpayers without sacrificing its quality.

Full story