The Dismantling of Medicaid

Once considered one of the crowning achievements of The Great Society, Medicaid is now being steadily chipped away—and patients are suffering because of it.

BY Michael Collins

Plagued by a poorly designed medical reimbursement process that rewards health care professionals for providing medically unnecessary care and yet doesn’t pay enough for many specialists or small providers to deal with burdensome administration, the popular program has been a target of reform for decades. With state budgets hollowed out and a budget regime that cuts investments in health to fund tax breaks for corporations, legislators are now looking to cut costs—and if there’s time, improve the quality of care.

When Suzanne Klug took her daughter Tamara to an orthopedic surgeon in the winter of 2012, the first question the doctor asked her was, “Why are you here?”