Medicaid funding gap will widen | State Capital | timesdaily.com – Times Daily

MONTGOMERY — As lawmakers and Gov. Robert Bentley look for most of the $100 million increase the state Medicaid Agency needs in the next budget year, they’ve been warned the agency’s costs will be even greater in 2018 and 2019.This year, state funding for Medicaid was $685 million. In the 2017 budget year that starts Oct. 1, the agency says it needs $785 million from the state to maintain services. Right now, it’s about $85 million short.But Medicaid’s projected need in 2018 is $865 million, agency officials said this week. And in 2019, the number is $895 million. By comparison, the entire General Fund budget is about $1.8 billion.“I think members (of the Legislature) and the public need to know how dire Medicaid’s situation is going to be in February if nothing gets done,” Sen. Arthur Orr, R-Decatur, said Wednesday.Orr’s a member of the Senate General Fund budget committee, and February is when …
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