Medicaid: Decline in Spending Growth Due to a Combination of Factors

GAO discussed recent Medicaid spending trends and their potential implications for future outlays, focusing on: (1) the variation in Medicaid spending growth among the states, especially for the most recent 2-year period, that culminated in the 3.3-percent growth rate in fiscal year 1996; (2) key factors that contributed to the decrease from previous years' growth rates; and (3) the implications of these and other factors for Medicaid expenditures in the future.