Definition
Total medical assistance expenditures.Numerator
Total medical assistance expenditures.Denominator
Not applicable.Why Is This Important?
As the Utah population has grown, so has the number of Utahns receiving assistance from Medicaid. The increase in Medicaid enrollees combined with increases in the costs of providing health care cause the Medicaid medical assistance expenditures to rise over time.How Are We Doing?
Over the past several years, initiatives to increase services to Medicaid clients, such as cancer screening, healthy mothers and babies, well child care, dental care, and assistive medical devices, have contributed to increases in overall health care utilization and Medicaid expenditures.How Do We Compare With the U.S.?
Because the relatively healthy population in Utah, we have lower per capita total health care expenditures than most states (regardless of payor), and lower per capita Medicaid expenditures than most states.