Lawmakers press Health and Welfare on Medicaid costs, behavioral health spending and personal caregiver workforce

Senator Julie VanOrden, chair of the Senate Health and Welfare Committee, told the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee on Friday that her committee is tracking faster growth in the Medicaid expansion population compared with traditional Medicaid, even as core Medicaid continues to account for the majority of spending.

The senator said committee members suggested medical inflation is a primary driver of recent spending increases and raised questions about specific programs, including whether Meals on Wheels funding appears reduced in the current budget documents.

“I got some feedback from my committee on the budgets… the Medicaid expansion population is growing faster than the regular Medicaid population,” VanOrden said. “She felt like the rise in the spending was because of inflation in medical costs… and how those had increased so much.”

Representative members of the House Health and Welfare delegation told the committee they were broadly supportive of expanded…