Welfare As We Knew It

The Wall Street Journal comments Welfare As We Know It Is Back—and It's Bipartisan

Bill Clinton won election in 1992 on a promise to "end welfare as we know it." When running for re-election four years later, he declared "the era of big government is over." Alas, welfare is back in fashion like girls' overalls, ushering in a new era of bipartisan big government.

Nearly half of New York City residents are on Medicaid. As are 40% of Californians. Since the ObamaCare expansion took effect in 2014, Medicaid enrollment has swelled. Meantime, states are gaming the program's rules to wring more money out of Washington.

California imposes a tax on insurers to obtain more federal matching funds, which allows it to extend coverage to millions of undocumented immigrants. The Golden State expects to receive some $120 billion in Medicaid matching funds this year, more than Florida's entire state budget.

During the 1990s, both parties sought to crack down on such schemes. In 1991, George H.W. Bush signed a bipartisan law to prevent states from using taxes on healthcare providers to milk more federal matching funds, some of which they then kicked back to those same healthcare providers. Even Reps. Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer voted for it.

California, New York and other states then devised ways to circumvent the law's limitations. Many Republican-led states have joined the Medicaid racket—why give up a free lunch that others are taking? But someone has to pay, and it will be future taxpayers.