More Than 17 Cents of Each State Revenue Dollar Goes to Medicaid

by Matt McKillop & Jessica Carges, PEW, June 20, 2018

A post-recession spike in the portion of states’ own money spent on Medicaid health care coverage for low-income Americans persisted in fiscal year 2016. Nationwide, Medicaid consumed 17.1 cents of every state-generated dollar that year, 4.9 cents more per dollar than in fiscal 2000 and the largest percentage since that year.

Every state spent a larger share of its own dollars on Medicaid in 2016 than in 2000, and percentages in 18 states reached a new high. The increases varied widely, however, from less than 1 cent more per state-generated dollar in Hawaii and New York to nearly 14 cents more in Louisiana.  

Medicaid is most states’ biggest expense after K-12 education. States and the federal government share costs for the safety-net program, which provides medical coverage for eligible groups of children, adults, people with disabilities, and the elderly….

The slowest growth was in five states with increases of 1.5 cents or less per own-source dollar: New York (0.5), Hawaii (0.9), Michigan (1.1), Tennessee (1.3), and Utah (1.4).

The states that spent the lowest share of own dollars on Medicaid in 2016 were Utah (5.8 percent), Hawaii (8.1 percent), Nevada (9.1 percent), North Dakota (9.4 percent), and Wyoming (9.9 percent)….

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