Monday, March 14, 2005
Medicaid costs are a reason for, not an argument against TABOR
[George Dean, "TABOR is bad idea," The Wichita Eagle, 13 March 2005.]
Wichita regional AARP leader George Dean tries to pull a fast one in this op-ed on TABOR, basically saying that Kansas can't afford to have spending caps because we'll need to spend more money in the future.
States spend disproportionately on categories whose prices are rising fastest -- health care, education and corrections. The costs for these services are increasing much faster than the overall rate of inflation, so a formula that is based on overall inflation -- as every TABOR law is -- restricts needed services.
States also spend disproportionately on populations that cost more to serve and are growing faster than the average, especially seniors and people with disabilities. As the overall population grew by 15.4 percent between 1990 and 2002, the number of children with disabilities grew by 35 percent, and the number of elderly and people with disabilities on Medicaid grew by 70 percent. Over the next 35 years, the elderly population will grow at twice the rate of the general population.
The reality is that we cannot afford to keep spending like we are, and the demographics only make spending reform more urgent. The best line above is where Dean points out that state spending leads to more state spending. Health care, education and corrections are all areas that exist in a quasi-market state that is far more public than private. The former two certainly need not be that way, and the only way to restore sanity to the rising costs associated with these services is to force policymakers to recognize the need for change.
[Matthew Hisrich, "A Backgrounder on Kansas Medicaid," The Flint Hills Center, 19 July 2004.]
[George Dean, "TABOR is bad idea," The Wichita Eagle, 13 March 2005.]
Wichita regional AARP leader George Dean tries to pull a fast one in this op-ed on TABOR, basically saying that Kansas can't afford to have spending caps because we'll need to spend more money in the future.
States spend disproportionately on categories whose prices are rising fastest -- health care, education and corrections. The costs for these services are increasing much faster than the overall rate of inflation, so a formula that is based on overall inflation -- as every TABOR law is -- restricts needed services.
States also spend disproportionately on populations that cost more to serve and are growing faster than the average, especially seniors and people with disabilities. As the overall population grew by 15.4 percent between 1990 and 2002, the number of children with disabilities grew by 35 percent, and the number of elderly and people with disabilities on Medicaid grew by 70 percent. Over the next 35 years, the elderly population will grow at twice the rate of the general population.
The reality is that we cannot afford to keep spending like we are, and the demographics only make spending reform more urgent. The best line above is where Dean points out that state spending leads to more state spending. Health care, education and corrections are all areas that exist in a quasi-market state that is far more public than private. The former two certainly need not be that way, and the only way to restore sanity to the rising costs associated with these services is to force policymakers to recognize the need for change.
[Matthew Hisrich, "A Backgrounder on Kansas Medicaid," The Flint Hills Center, 19 July 2004.]
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