Congress has become very concerned with limiting the growth in Medicaid spending. Between 1988 and 1993 Medicaid spending grew from $26 billion to an estimated $139.8 billion. Between 1995 and 2002, Medicaid spending is projected to grow by $150.8 billion; this translates into an average annual growth rate of 10.1 percent. In order to reduce government spending, the federal government is now requiring states to try to recover some of the money they spend on Medicaid beneficiaries. Furthermore, Medicaid is stepping up its "retrieval" of costs when a patient dies. They can put liens on homes and other assets of the medicaid beneficiary.

Another way Medicaid has been limiting its spending is by aggressively reducing the amount of reimbursement for Long Term Care facilities and providers.

“Dissatisfaction with the current medicaid program is high/ low reimbursement rates mean that nursing homes frequently resist taking medicaid patients or provide poor care. Some facilities have Medicaid wings and require residents to move to them when they convert from private-pay to Medicaid status . . . If the Medicaid wing is full, the facility may try to evict the resident . . . Services for Medicaid recipients may not be as good as those for private-pay residents.”
Patricia Nemore, Elder Law Expert

“17,000 nursing homes around the U.S. treat 1.6 million under the Medicaid banner. The average U.S. cost of care is $41,000 per year. 63% going into a nursing home exhaust their assets within 13 weeks; 90% exhaust their savings in 16 weeks. But nursing homes don't usually like Medicaid patients and have tried to evict such patients since it does not provide the same daily rate as the private patients.”
CBS News, 2001

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