Three Years of State Fiscal Struggles: How Did Medicaid and SCHIP Fare?

Three Years of State Fiscal Struggles: How Did Medicaid and SCHIP Fare?Teresa A. Coughlin, Stephen ZuckermanIn a Health Affairs web exclusive, Terri Coughlin andStephen Zuckerman examined budget decisions in eightstates over the 2003-05 time period when states faced someof their largest budget shortfalls since World War II.Coughlin and Zuckerman report that, on balance, stateswere reluctant to raise taxes or reduce either benefits or eligibility for Medicaid and SCHIP. Instead, theyfrequently relied on one-time actions such as shifting money from surplus accounts into general funds,changing accounting rules or delaying payments from one fiscal year into the next. The authors concluded thatby taking this approach, however, some states have created structural deficits that will profoundly influencestate policy making for many years to come. (Health Affairs Web Exclusive, August 16, 2005)Other Publications by the AuthorsTeresa A. Coughlin Stephen Zuckerman Usage and reprints: Most publications may be downloaded free of charge from the web site and may be used and copiesmade for research, academic, policy or other non-commercial purposes. Proper attribution is required. Posting UI researchpapers on other websites is permitted subject to prior approval from the Urban Institute—contact publicaffairs@urban.org.If you are unable to access or print the PDF document please contact us or call the Publications Office at (202) 261-5687.Disclaimer: The nonpartisan Urban Institute publishes studies, reports, and books on timely topics worthy of publicconsideration. The views expressed are those of the authors and should not be attributed to the Urban Institute, itstrustees, or its funders. Copyright of the written materials contained within the Urban Institute website is owned orcontrolled by the Urban Institute. Document date: August 16, 2005Released online: August 16, 2005Source: The Urban Institute, © 2012 | http://www.urban.org