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Delaware Legislature Reviews Proposed Increased for Medicaid

 

       DOVER, Del. (AP) - Members of the legislature's budget-writing committee are mulling over spending for Delaware's costly Medicaid program.

     The Joint Finance Committee is holding hearings on the

     Department of Health and Social Services' proposed budget for the fiscal year starting July 1. The committee was to hear Wednesday from the Division of Medicaid and Medical Assistance.

     Gov. Jack Markell has proposed about $622 million for Medicaid next year, an increase of about $22 million to meet enrollment growth in the government health care program for the poor.

     Markell has said Delaware must address skyrocketing costs for Medicaid and state employee health care, noting that Medicaid beneficiaries, state employees and retirees represent almost 40 percent of Delaware's health insurance market, with an annual taxpayer price tag of $1.7 billion in state and federal funds.

Don Rush is the News Director at Delmarva Public Media. An award-winning journalist, Don reports major local issues of the day, from sea level rise, to urban development, to the changing demographics of Delmarva.