Delaware lawmakers got a “shock” Wednesday, after learning projected Medicaid costs for next year are up another $28.5 million on top of the governor’s request for an additional $40 million last month.
State Medicaid Director Steve Groff says the near doubling of his original request is due to higher costs of pediatric care than he had originally thought.
Groff also told the Joint Finance Committee his agency’s cost projections were hindered by uncertainty surrounding exactly who would be on the state’s Medicaid rolls.
“When we negotiated this last year we were in the middle of an open enrollment, so we had to make assumptions about who was going to enroll where and what their medical costs were going to look like. Some of those assumptions held pretty well, some of them not so much,” Groff said.
JFC Co-chair Sen. Harris McDowell (D-Wilmington North) called it “a shock,” saying the state is “a little bit too easy” in negotiations with the two insurance companies providing Medicaid coverage.
Legislators may get a reprieve from next month’s Delaware Economic and Financial Advisory Council revenue report.
McDowell says the $79 million windfall the state got was a “rosier” outlook than reality.
“I think the governor’s budget projected that as a trend. I’m very worried that it’s not a trend, so I don’t think we can hope for DEFAC," he said.
In total, the general fund portion of the Medicaid budget will blow past $770 million next year with the increased projected costs.