First 6 months of Medicaid data.

Abstract

This is the first in a series of comprehensive Medicaid program reports based on National Medical Care Utilization and Expenditure Survey (NMCUES) data. Preliminary analyses are presented based on data from the first half of 1980, which include the personal characteristics and medical care utilization patterns of noninstitutional Medicaid enrollees and the health insurance coverage of the U.S. noninstitutionalized population. More comprehensive analyses employing full calendar year 1980 data will be available in subsequent reports. The information contained in this report is useful in appraising the impact of eligibility, benefit package, and reimbursement policy on Medicaid enrollee health care utilization at both the Federal and the State Medicaid level. Despite the expectations of the Medicaid program's architects that it would be smaller and less significant than the Medicare program, the Medicaid program has experienced dramatic growth in the number of recipients and total expenditures since its creation. By early 1980, State Medicaid program expenditures accounted for between 10 and 15 percent of individual State general operating funds. The Medicaid program is continuing to grow relative to State budgets. State budgets have been expanding by only about 9 percent per year, while Medicaid budget expenditures have been expanding at approximately twice that rate. These factors are forcing States to devise program changes concerning eligibility, benefits, or reimbursement approaches that will enable them to maintain fiscal stability as expenditures increase and the Federal role changes. These problems present a major challenge to policymakers and administrators at both the Federal and State levels. Solutions to these problems are difficult because of the differences in Medicaid programs, the constantly changing character of the Medicaid programs within States, and a lack of data to describe, monitor, and forecast Medicaid program activities in a consistent fashion. NMCUES was designed with these data problems in mind. Survey Background The goal of the National Medical Care Utilization and Expenditure Survey (NMCUES) is to collect information that will improve our understanding of the way Americans use and pay for health care. In addition to providing reliable statistical descriptions of the types of health services consumed and the amount of dollars expended for health care by the Nation, NMCUES was designed to permit health policy analysts to investigate a broad range of issues concerning the financing and delivery of health services in the United States. NMCUES data reflect health care experiences of the civilian noninstitutionalized population during 1980.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)