Fiscal Survey Of The States: Medicaid, Local Governments Strain Nationwide

Excerpt from The Huffington Post: (click for entire article)

A rise in Medicaid costs, combined with the end of federal stimulus funds and a continued decline in property tax receipts at the local level will combine to push state governments into the fiscal hot seat in 2012, a new report predicts.

The nation's current unemployment situation and a rising Baby Boomer retirement population are leading to a rise in Medicaid spending at a time when states are seeing small revenue growth, though not the pre-recession levels from 2008. The data is part of the latest Fiscal Survey of the States, released by the National Governors Association and the National Association of State Budget Officers on Tuesday.

"States are being asked to expend more resources than they have," said Dan Crippen, the NGA executive director.