Seattle Times Endorses Proposed Reforms to Washington State’s Medicaid Program

A federal waiver that Washington state plans to request this year to reform the state's Medicaid program would provide "simple cost-containment" for a program "in dire need of it," according to a Seattle Times editorial (Seattle Times, 8/8). The waiver would require Medicaid beneficiaries to pay a $5 copayment for prescription drugs that do not appear on the state's preferred treatment list and a $10 copayment for nonemergency care provided in emergency facilities. The waiver also would require Medicaid beneficiaries with annual incomes that exceed the federal poverty level, about $8,860 per year for an individual, to pay premiums that range from $10 to $60 per month. In addition, the waiver would limit enrollment in state Medicaid programs that provide coverage for services not required under federal Medicaid law (Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, 5/21). The proposed reforms, which health insurers "long have used to steer patients to lower-cost care," would save the state an estimated $30 million per year, the editorial states. The editorial concludes that the reform proposal "won't be a cure without pain" for Medicaid beneficiaries, "but it is a compassionate treatment for times with rising medical costs and tight state budgets" (Seattle Times, 8/8).