Medicaid Taking Huge Bite Out of Illinois Budget

by Wesley Fox Like many states, Illinois faces severe budget problems resulting from the economic recession.  Illinois’s budget problems are made worse by the massive cost of its Medicaid program.  According to the National Association of State Budget Officers, Medicaid represents approximately 30% of the Illinois budget. Only two other states (Maine and Missouri) commit more of their...

by Wesley Fox

Like many states, Illinois faces severe budget problems resulting from the economic recession.  Illinois’s budget problems are made worse by the massive cost of its Medicaid program.  According to the National Association of State Budget Officers, Medicaid represents approximately 30% of the Illinois budget. Only two other states (Maine and Missouri) commit more of their budgets to Medicaid.  Nationally, states spend an average 21% on Medicaid.

The costs of Medicaid in Illinois have also been rising rapidly recent years and are expected to rise another 7% in 2010.  Medicaid is slowly crowding out other state expenditures such as education, public safety, and transportation.

There are several proposals to help control the cost of Medicaid including Medicaid Health Accountsand promoting greater transparency in the program to help administrators identify cost savings.  Read about other specific recommendations on how to reform Medicaid in the Illinois Policy Institute’s Legislator’s Guide to the issues.