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Spending on Medicaid rose nearly 14 percent on average in the last fiscal year, a report has found, largely because of a tide of newly eligible enrollees in the 29 states that had expanded the program by then to cover millions more low-income adults. But for most of those states, the per-member, per-month cost of the new enrollees was not higher — in a few cases, in fact, it was lower — than expected, according to the report, released Thursday by the Kaiser Family Foundation. And almost all of the additional spending was covered by federal funds, which are paying the entire cost of expanding Medicaid through 2016 and at least 90 percent thereafter. (Goodnough, 10/15)

The 22 states that didn't expand Medicaid eligibility as part of Obamacare last year saw their costs to provide health care to the poor rise twice as fast as states that extended benefits to more low-income residents. It's a counterintuitive twist for those states whose governors, most Republicans who opposed the Affordable Care Act, chose not to accept federal funds to extend Medicaid to more people. (Kodjak, 10/15)

States that opted to expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act saw enrollment increase on average by 18 percent during the first full year of expansion, according to a report released Thursday. That will soon have an effect on state budgets, with expansion states to pay a portion of costs to cover the new enrollees beginning in 2017. Currently, the federal government is covering the expanded population at 100 percent. States will eventually pay 10 percent of costs by 2020. (Cassidy, 10/15)

Most of the growth in Medicaid enrollment has been from people who became eligible under the health law and therefore totally paid for by the federal government. States that expanded the program saw their share of costs increase by 3.4 percent compared to nearly 7 percent in states that did not expand. Much of the growth in the non-expansion states was from increased enrollment among previously eligible parents and children. (Galewitz, 10/15)

To Obamacare supporters, the report is proof the health care law is improving access to insurance coverage to those who need it most. But the report could also provide ammunition to critics who say its unwise to expand a program that is already strapping state budgets. (O'Donnell, 10/15)

he U.S. budget deficit in 2015 fell to its lowest level in eight years, spurred by gains in tax revenue that outpaced greater government spending. ... Health care programs drove some of the largest increases in spending. Medicaid, which pays for health services for the poor, reported expenses of $350 billion, 16 percent higher than in 2014. Much of that increase was attributable to greater enrollments under the Obama administration’s health care reforms. (Rugaber, 10/15)