Summary on Medical Assistance

 

Medical Assistance, also known as MA and Medicare has grown over the years. Some of the growth is reflected in summaries of information provided by the Legislative Audit Bureau (LAB) which released its audit of the Medical Assistance Program (MA).  The audit found that program expenditures and participants have increased substantially since the 2006-07 fiscal year (FY), and that oversight of vendors could be improved.  The following is a portion of the report:
 
Recipients:
  •       The number of participants increased from 870,201 in January 2007 to 1.2 million in January 2011. 
  •       Children were the largest group of MA recipients.  
  •       Most recipients receive services through HMOs, but 37.7 percent of recipients received care on a fee-for-service basis in January 2011.
Expenditures:
  •        Total MA expenditures increased from $5 billion in 2006-07 to $7.5 billion in 2010-11.
  •       87 percent of the increase was funded by the Federal Government.
  •       State fund expenditures increased from $2.1 billion to $2.4 billion during the same period.
  •       Increased expenditures were mainly due to increased enrollment caused by the economic downturn and statutory eligibility expansion.
  •        Increased rates to certain providers, such as hospitals and nursing homes, also contributed to the increased costs.  
  •       Expenditures for acute and primary care subprograms, such as BadgerCare Plus, increased 75.4 percent from $916.1 million in FY 2006-07 to $1.6 billion in FY 2009-10. 
  •        Expenditures for long-term care subprograms, such as Family Care, increased 50.5 percent from $948.7 million in FY 2006-07 to $1.4 billion in FY 2009-10.