By Isabella Volmert
Indiana's initial estimate for Medicaid expenses is nearly $1 billion short of its now-predicted need, state lawmakers learned in a report that ignited concern over the state's budget and access to the low-income healthcare program.
A December outlook found that Medicaid is predicted to need $984 million more than what was thought in April, when the state's biennium budget was finalized.
State budget director Zachary Jackson told The Associated Press the forecast used to develop the budget allowed Indiana to move $525 million from Medicaid to the state's general fund in July. The state has directed that $271 million of that money be moved back to Medicaid to address the shortfall of the last year, he said.
According to the predictions presented to lawmakers on Tuesday, the state will need to appropriate $255.2 million more for the program before July 2024 and $457.9 million more for the following year.
The flawed April forecast was based on data that did not reflect the latest needs of enrollees, state agencies said. Jackson said demand for certain categories, such as elderly care, outpaced what state officials anticipated. According to the report, home and community-based long-term services and support are anticipated to be in need of the most funding over the next two years.
Medicaid director Cora Steinmetz told lawmakers Tuesday that the agency is working on proposals for controlling costs, prompting concern over access to the program.
“We’re exploring all aspects of the Medicaid program to look at where there might be an opportunity to generate potential savings on the appropriation,” Steinmetz said.
Indiana's lawmakers finalize the state budget during odd-numbered years, leaving lawmakers and state agencies with a limited path to enact legislative change in the upcoming 2024 session. Steinmetz said the agency will draft proposals for cost containment within the power of the agency and the budget committee.
States across the country are unwinding pandemic-era protections that kept millions of people covered by Medicaid. In Indiana, the number of people enrolled in Medicaid steadily grew every month from March 2020 until May of this year, when the federal budget law ended the protections.
Indiana’s total enrollment has fallen every month since then. Even so, the demand is still greater than before the pandemic.
According to the report, Indiana saw a net growth of over 370,000 Medicaid enrollees since January 2020.
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The Federal Reserve cut its key interest rate by a quarter-point Wednesday and projected it would do so twice more this year as concern grows at the central bank about the health of the nation’s labor market. The move is the Fed’s first cut since December and lowered its short-term rate to about 4.1%, down from 4.3%. Fed officials, led by Chair Jerome Powell, had kept their rate unchanged this year as they evaluated the impact of tariffs, tighter immigration enforcement, and other Trump administration policies on inflation and the economy. The only dissenter was Stephen Miran, the recent Trump-appointee.
After a late-night vote and last-minute ruling, the Federal Reserve began a key meeting on interest rate policy Tuesday with both a new Trump administration appointee and an official the White House has targeted for removal.
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The Trump administration has asked an appeals court to remove Lisa Cook from the Federal Reserve’s board of governors by Monday, before the central bank’s next vote on interest rates. Trump sought to fire Cook Aug. 25, but a federal judge ruled late Tuesday that the removal was illegal and reinstated her to the Fed’s board.
President Donald Trump's administration is appealing a ruling blocking him from immediately firing Federal Reserve Gov. Lisa Cook as he seeks more control over the traditionally independent board. The notice of appeal was filed Wednesday, hours after U.S. District Judge Jia Cobb handed down the ruling. The White House insists the Republican president had the right to fire Cook over mortgage fraud allegations involving properties in Michigan and Georgia from before she joined the Fed. Cook's lawsuit denies the allegations and says the firing was unlawful. The case could soon reach the Supreme Court, which has allowed Trump to fire members of other independent agencies but suggested that power has limitations at the Fed.
Chief Justice John Roberts has let President Donald Trump remove a member of the Federal Trade Commission, the latest in a string of high-profile firings allowed for now by the Supreme Court.
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The Rev. Al Sharpton is set to lead a protest march on Wall Street to urge corporate America to resist the Trump administration’s campaign to roll back diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. The New York civil rights leader will join clergy, labor and community leaders Thursday in a demonstration through Manhattan’s Financial District that’s timed with the anniversary of the Civil Rights-era March on Washington in 1963. Sharpton called DEI the “civil rights fight of our generation." He and other Black leaders have called for boycotting American retailers that scaled backed policies and programs aimed at bolstering diversity and reducing discrimination in their ranks.
