Peter1469
12-10-2018, 02:42 PM
Virginia Medicaid Costs Nearly $500 Million More Than Expected (https://www.heartland.org/news-opinion/news/virginia-medicaid-costs-nearly-500-million-more-than-expected)
I am shocked. Shocked I tell you.
No, not really.
Although Virginia lawmakers insist the new cost burden is not related to Medicaid expansion, they acknowledge the program’s share of the budget has been growing for years and has led to $460 million in unforeseen Medicaid costs.
Plans Going Awry
The federal Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which cut taxes and has spurred economic growth nationwide, and a court ruling broadening Virginia’s ability to tax online commerce have led many analysts to project tax revenue increases in Virginia, but the state’s high Medicaid costs will likely consume that additional revenue.
Gov. Ralph Northam has indicated a desire to spend the state’s tax windfall on a tax break for low- and moderate-income families and make the state’s earned- income tax credit fully refundable.
Republican state Sen. Bill Stanley has been promoting a plan to use the extra revenue to repair and replace the state’s aging public school infrastructure, and he says he’s disappointed by the possibility Medicaid costs will consume the likely upcoming revenue increase created by the federal tax cuts.
“I was kind of heartbroken on what effect that will have” on school spending, Stanley told the Associated Press on November 2.
I am shocked. Shocked I tell you.
No, not really.
Although Virginia lawmakers insist the new cost burden is not related to Medicaid expansion, they acknowledge the program’s share of the budget has been growing for years and has led to $460 million in unforeseen Medicaid costs.
Plans Going Awry
The federal Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which cut taxes and has spurred economic growth nationwide, and a court ruling broadening Virginia’s ability to tax online commerce have led many analysts to project tax revenue increases in Virginia, but the state’s high Medicaid costs will likely consume that additional revenue.
Gov. Ralph Northam has indicated a desire to spend the state’s tax windfall on a tax break for low- and moderate-income families and make the state’s earned- income tax credit fully refundable.
Republican state Sen. Bill Stanley has been promoting a plan to use the extra revenue to repair and replace the state’s aging public school infrastructure, and he says he’s disappointed by the possibility Medicaid costs will consume the likely upcoming revenue increase created by the federal tax cuts.
“I was kind of heartbroken on what effect that will have” on school spending, Stanley told the Associated Press on November 2.