New Mexico trails only New York in per-capita Medicaid spending

A new analysis from our friends at the New York-based Empire Center highlights New York’s status as the top-spending state in the nation (on a per-person basis) when it comes to Medicaid. Our own Legislative Finance Committee in New Mexico has previously reported that 47% of New Mexico’s  population is on the program. Other reports confirm that New Mexico has the highest percentage of its population on Medicaid although that number MAY not hit 47%. Of course, actual spending may differ based on cost of living and generosity of benefits.

But, as the chart below highlights, New Mexico does indeed exceed every state with the exception of New York in spending on a per-person basis on Medicaid. What else could be done with those tax dollars? How much of our Medicaid spending is fraudulent? How is Medicaid spending depressing our terrible workforce participation rate?