Report: MassHealth Spending Not So High
A new report has found that spending on MassHealth since the mid-90s has grown slightly faster than the economy as a whole.
The report was compiled by the Massachusetts Medicaid Policy Institute and the Massachusetts Budget and Policy Center.
MassHealth, the Massachusetts Medicaid program, funded by the state and federal governments, grew at an average of 7.1 percent annually between 1996 and 2007, from $3.36 billion to $7.1 billion. Over the same time period, total personal income in the state averaged 6.2 percent annual growth. According to the report, the increase in Medicaid spending reflects the inflation of health care costs, as well as expansion of the program. Enrollment in MassHealth went from 751,000 in 1996 to 1.1 million in 2007.
The report said Medicaid grew much more as a share of the state budget because of tax cuts over the last decade. Tax revenues as a share of total personal income declined from 6.4 percent in 1996 to 5.5 percent in 2007.
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