Medicaid Block Grants Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Medicaid Block Grants - Term Paper Example On average, Washington pays 57 percent of the costs. Wealthy states get at least 50 percent of Medicaid costs covered by the feds; poor states get as much as 85 percent (Vestal, n.p.). In return, states must meet minimum standards for benefits and eligibility. For example, states are required to provide Medicaid services to low-income children, pregnant women, some adults with dependent children, people with disabilities and frail elders. Benefits must cover doctor’s visits, hospital stays, emergency room services, diagnostic and outpatient services and long-term care (Vestal, n.p.). Governors have long lobbied for a freer hand on Medicaid, which they say would result in a cheaper, more effective program. Lately, Republican governors have more aggressively pursued the block-grant idea, partly because they’re worried about the cost of adding millions more people to the program beginning in 2014. The federal government will pick up the whole tab for new enrollees for the first three years, tapering down to 90 percent in 2020 and beyond. Governors also are alarmed at Medicaid’s growth rate, which the CBO estimates at 7 percent annually over the next decade. The program, some state officials say, is crowding out other needs, such as education (Carey & Serafini, n.p.). The different types of Medicaid Block Grants are: Block Grants and Welfare Reform.  Federal block grants consolidate various aid programs into a payment to each state based on a formula set by law. This eliminates the ability of federal agencies to allocate grant funds to favored applicants, establish program priorities and set requirements. Block grants give the states increased flexibility to experiment, improve programs and allocate funds to their priorities. Welfare reform is an example of a successful block grant program.  In 1996, the Aid to Families with Dependent Children entitlement program was replaced with the