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Medicaid Drains State Budgets, Leading To Drastic Cuts

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32-year-old Francisco Felix, left, is one of dozens of Arizona patients who need liver transplants but can't get them because of moneysaving budget cuts to the state's Medicaid system. (AP)
32-year-old Francisco Felix, left, is one of dozens of Arizona patients who need liver transplants but can't get them because of moneysaving budget cuts to the state's Medicaid system. (AP)

The state of Arizona drew severe criticism after news broke recently that Medicaid is no longer covering the cost of some types of organ transplants. But the growing cost of Medicaid is leading several states to start cutting services.

In California, adult dental care is on the chopping block. And in Michigan, Medicaid no longer funds treatment for autism. We talk to Diane Rowland, executive director of the Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured, as well as a professor in the department of health policy and management at Johns Hopkins University about how states are coping with the looming crisis in funding medicaid.

This segment aired on January 6, 2011.

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