RICHMOND (AP) -- Gov. Bob McDonnell's new budget doesn't account for cost increases in hospital and nursing home rates for Medicaid recipients. It also reduces indigent care at state medical school teaching hospitals.
Overall, the new budget the governor presents Monday morning to the General Assembly's money committees trims $416 million from Virginia's Department of Medical Assistance Services.
Income limits for eligibility for optional long-term care are also being reduced, meaning fewer people will qualify.
But rising use of Medicaid forced McDonnell to boost state appropriations for the federal-state entitlement program for the aged, disabled, blind and needy by more than $600 million.
Medicaid's costs have grown by 80 percent over the past 10 years and now consume one-fifth of Virginia's general fund.
