As the 50th anniversary of Medicaid’s creation is remembered today, an analysis released by the Louisiana Budget Project says the federal program provides essential health services for 30% of Louisianans and has “successfully reduced stark racial disparities in health coverage among children.”
“White and black children in Louisiana are insured at nearly identical rates because of Medicaid,” reads the analysis by LBP, a Baton Rouge-based nonprofit that reports on public policy and how it affects low- to moderate-income families. “But among adults—most of whom are not eligible for Medicaid regardless of income—large racial gaps in coverage (and health outcomes) persist. Without Medicaid, health care inequality would be far worse than it is today.”
Of the $8.1 billion Louisiana spent on Medicaid last year, about 65%—or slightly more than $5.1 billion—came from the federal government, the analysis says. Medicaid coverage in the state costs about $4,500 per recipient, placing Louisiana among the bottom fifth of all states in terms of cost, LBP says.
One in every five dollars spent on health care in Louisiana comes from Medicaid, and the program supports at least 50,000 jobs, according to the analysis.
Other findings from the analysis include:
- Medicaid provides coverage for 1.4 million Louisianans
- More than half of enrollees are children from low-income families, while seniors and people with disabilities make up another 26%
- Medicaid pays for 70% of births in Louisiana and 70% of nursing home beds
See the complete LBP analysis, in which the group also advocates for Louisiana to join the 28 states and Washington, D.C., which have expanded Medicaid to low-income adults as part of the Affordable Care Act.
