LSO analyst outlines Health and Welfare budget drivers, recommends where to look for details

Alex Williamson, a budget and policy analyst with the Legislative Services Office, briefed the Senate Health and Welfare Committee on the Department of Health and Welfare’s recent spending history, the governor’s fiscal‑year 2026 recommendation, and an ongoing internal reorganization at the agency intended to align programs under renamed divisions.

Williamson told the committee that Medicaid‑related adjustments drove a large portion of recent appropriation increases and that the department’s five‑year appropriations versus expenditures view shows a notable uptick between fiscal years 2022 and 2023 driven primarily by Medicaid changes and hospital assessment adjustments.

“Some of the factors that went into this... was an increase of about, dollars $670,000,000 from the previous year. About two thirds of that came from changes, to Medicaid,” Williamson said as she summarized the main drivers behind recent appropriation fluctuations.

What Williamson presented

Williamson walked committee members through how to read the Legislative Services Office budget materials and dashboards and highlighted the major items in the governor’s fiscal‑year 2026 recommendation:

- Medicaid population and program…