As they have in the past, some members of Congress have suggested of late that Medicaid might benefit from being transformed into a program with limited spending per capita: that is, such an approach would limit the amount of money the federal government would provide to states on a per capita basis.

Such an approach would almost certainly have serious implications for private safety-net hospitals.

What issues would need to be addressed to develop such an approach? What data would be needed?

Earlier this year the chairmen of the Senate Finance Committee and the House Energy and Commerce Committee asked the U.S. Government Accountability Office to answer these and other questions. Now, the GAO has published its answers in a new report titled Key Policy and Data Considerations for Designing a Per Capita Cap on Federal Funding. Find that report here.