[V]TDigger has launched a microsite for reporter Erin Mansfield’s data investigation of the state’s expanded Medicaid program.
The series Medicaid by the Numbers features data sets that analyze a dramatic increase in the number of adults who are now eligible for full Medicaid benefits and subsidies for health insurance. In all, about 218,000 people now qualify for some kind of Medicaid support, or about 35 percent of the state’s population.
The cost of the program has also increased from $1.1 billion in fiscal year 2008 to $1.7 billion in fiscal year 2016.
Lawmakers are grappling with how to address an ongoing budget deficit in the program that is putting pressure on state government.
The series, which continues over the next few weeks, will analyze pharmaceutical expenditures, payments to hospitals for charity care, Medicaid spending by hospitals and the range of programs, including mental health, disability services and population health, that are also paid for through the program.
