Medicaid long-term health care costs to soar in US

Medicaid long-term health care costs to soar in US
Mon Sep 29, 2008 5:56pm EDT

By Will Dunham

WASHINGTON, Sept 29 (Reuters) - Fueled by the needs of a growing elderly population, U.S. spending on long-term health care under the Medicaid program will soar in the next 20 years, a report released on Monday predicted.

Spending for long-term care for elderly and disabled people under the Medicaid health insurance program for the poor will total $3.7 trillion in the next two decades, according to the report by America's Health Insurance Plans, an industry group.

That includes $1.6 trillion projected to be spent by individual U.S. states and $2.1 trillion in federal money, according to the report. Long-term care includes nursing homes and in-home care for people unable to live independently.

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Separately, a report by the Kaiser Family Foundation health policy organization showed that overall Medicaid enrollment nationwide grew 2.1 percent in fiscal 2008, which ends on Tuesday, erasing a slight decline the prior year. The report, based on a survey of state Medicaid officials, found that states saw spending growth of 5.3 percent during the fiscal year, higher than the previous two years.

With members of the post-World War II baby boom generation quickly reaching retirement age, experts have warned of growing medical costs. The Medicare federal health insurance program for the elderly does not pay for long-term care. Medicaid covers long-term care expenses for low-income people and people who previously were not classified as low income but have spent down their assets to the point of reaching Medicaid eligibility. Medicaid spending for long-term care will expand at a faster rate than overall U.S. health care spending, Medicare expenditures and the overall economy, according to the report.

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http://www.reuters.com/article/marketsNews/idUSN2940692120080929

This nation has no MEMORY, AT ALL! America doesn't pay back its IOU's is the message......all the while Wall Street happily gobbles on with NO CONSCIENCE, NO WORRIES.

Wall Street is not populated with honorable men/women. Long may they hang in shame.