Iowa Predicts Up to $25 Million Budget Shortfall for Current Year

Iowa expects an estimated $20 million to $25 million Medicaid budget shortfall this fiscal year, Jan Clausen, an administrator in the state Department of Human Services, said, the Des Moines Register reports. Clausen told state lawmakers this week that the department budgeted for 210,000 Iowans to participate in Medicaid in July but actually served 226,808. Iowa "dodged the bullet" in the last fiscal year by transferring nearly $19 million in state funds from other parts of the budget to Medicaid, but "that doesn't solve" this year's shortfall, the Register reports. The state "is already battling lower-than-expected state tax revenues" and does not expect to receive more money from the federal government. Gov. Tom Vilsack (D) sent state lawmakers a letter last week asking them to help him find a "solution" to Medicaid's growing costs. According to Jessie Rasmussen, director of Human Services, this fiscal year's budget shortfall is due in part to "aggressive outreach efforts" to enroll more children in the state's CHIP program, called Healthy and Well Kids in Iowa. In seeking eligible children for CHIP, states often find children who are eligible for Medicaid, boosting that program's enrollment. Over the last year, Iowa has added 20,300 children to its Medicaid program (Okamoto, Des Moines Register, 8/31). For further information on state health policy in Iowa, visit State Health Facts Online.