Let others get a shot at PRIME jackpot

Well before Medicaid became the perennial state budget buster it is today, lawmakers took the wise step of experimenting with a cost-containment model that didn’t sacrifice quality of care.In 2012, the Legislature passed House Bill 12-1281 to establish the “Medicaid payment reform pilot program” — a prescient move given Medicaid’s growing (some say unsustainable) share of the state budget.As the Sentinel’s Jace DiCola reported, the state budget grew 64% between 2015 and 2025. Meanwhile, Medicaid spending doubled in the same period — from $8 billion to $16 billion — and could take up roughly 41% of the state budget next fiscal year, according to some projections.Non-Medicaid recipients may wonder how this affects them. Every dollar of Medicaid spending is a dollar less for the state’s other priorities — roads, schools, public safety, you name it.

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