Medicaid accounted for 14.8 percent of the $2.1 trillion in total health spending in 2006 and 7 percent of the federal budget in 2007. In the next ten years, Medicaid expenditures are projected to grow at a rate of 7.9 percent per year, a rate that exceeds the growth of other health care spending and the expected growth in the economy. These are some of the alarming facts reported in the first actuarial report on the financial outlook for Medicaid recently completed by the Office of the Actuary of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).

Even though Medicaid takes a back seat to Social Security and Medicare in most discussions of entitlement reform and financing, as this report points out, it is the largest source of general revenue spending for health care for both the federal and state governments. Because of this, the rapid growth in Medicaid spending in future years will present a major challenge for state and federal officials.

Why is Medicaid spending expected to grow faster than other health spending? This and other questions about the future of the program will be addressed at this event by CMS chief actuary Richard Foster; Christopher Truffer, the principal author of the 2008 Actuarial Report on the Financial Outlook for Medicaid; and CMS acting administrator Kerry Weems. John Holahan, a Medicaid expert and the director of the Urban Institute’s Health Policy Center, will discuss the report’s findings. AEI’s Robert B. Helms will moderate.