Shifting the financing of care for beneficiaries who are eligible for both Medicare and Medicaid to the Medicare program could save states as much as $47 billion and create new opportunities for improved care management and coordination, according to "Rethinking Medicaid's Financing Role for Medicare Enrollees," a Kaiser Family Foundation issue brief. The 8.8 million dual eligibles were responsible for 46 percent of all Medicaid spending for services in fiscal year 2005 ($57 billion) and more than 25 percent of Medicare spending.
According to the brief, "Shifting these costs to the federal government and making this population a principal focus of Medicare policy could be an important component of efforts to slow the rate of growth in overall health care spending, while potentially improving outcomes and quality for dual eligibles."