Media blasts Oregon Medicaid abuse ($$ on fridges, cooking class)

By Taxpayers Association of Oregon
OregonWatchdog.com

Last Thursday, prime time Fox News host, Jesse Watters, called out Oregon and California on Medicaid abuse.   Jesse Watters said, “California was caught using Medicaid to pay for art and music lessons. Oregon was caught using Medicaid for cooking classes, air conditioners and mini fridges.”

At the same time, the Oregon House passed their Medicaid bill but did not address these abuses of how the funds have been spent or will be spent.

The abuse of Medicaid dollars is a national known problem.

Here is what the Wall Street Editorial Board stated last week on Medicaid abuse:

“Federal Medicaid outlays have increased 207% since 2008 and 51% since 2019. Medicaid spending as a share of federal outlays rose to 10% from 7% between 2007 and 2023, while the share of Social Security and Medicare remained stable.The press claims Republicans want to gut Medicaid. That’s false. They’re not even proposing a cut. Medicaid outlays are on track to increase by $2.4 trillion through 2035 under the Congressional Budget Office baseline projections. So shaving $880 billion from that baseline would still amount to a $1.5 trillion increase in Medicaid spending. Republicans should long ago have fixed this baseline tyranny that automatically builds in new spending each year, but they’ve lacked the nerve…

One trick is imposing taxes on hospitals and managed care insurance plans, which states then use to spend more on Medicaid to collect more federal dollars. For every dollar states spend on Medicaid, the feds chip in one to three. The match is nine-to-one for the ObamaCare expansion population, which gives states an incentive to spend more on the healthy able-bodied than on the vulnerable.

Democrats and Republicans joined in 1991 to impose limits on such tax schemes so Medicaid wouldn’t become an open-ended subsidy fund sponsored by Washington. Alas, Congress gave New York a carve-out in 1997 (which Bill Clinton tried to scratch with a line-item veto), and the Biden Administration shrugged as Democratic-run states broke the rules.

This is one reason Democratic-run states receive disproportionately more federal Medicaid dollars. New York received $3,046 for each state resident in 2023 based on the most recent federal data. Federal Medicaid dollars also subsidize California ($2,167 per resident) and Illinois ($1,715) much more than Florida ($991) and Texas ($1,239).

The Biden Administration also gave states waivers to spend federal Medicaid dollars on non-medical purposes, including food, homeless housing, and personal transportation for beneficiaries. Health and Human Services is only supposed to grant such waivers if they don’t increase the federal deficit, but the Biden HHS ignored this rule.

Nearly half of the states have received federal permission to spend Medicaid dollars on housing, and a dozen have for food. What are federal low-income housing vouchers and food stamps for again? Mr. Biden’s HHS even blessed California’s plan to spend federal Medicaid dollars on “activity stipends” for art and music lessons for children and club sports. Oregon is tapping Medicaid to pay for cooking classes, air conditioners and mini-refrigerators. Some Republican states have joined this all-you-can-spend Medicaid buffet.”

Read more on Wall Street Journal editorial:

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