July 7, 2011 11:58AM # Even the New York Times Wants to Cut Medicaid By [Michael F. Cannon](https://www.cato.org/people/michael-f-cannon) --- SHARE From their [editorial](http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/06/opinion/06wed1.html) the other day: > **There is no doubt that Medicaid… has to be cut substantially** in future decades to help curb federal deficits. For cash-strapped states, program cuts may be necessary right now. But in reducing spending, government needs to ensure any changes will not cause undue harm to millions. How would the *Times* cut Medicaid spending? The magic of central planning! > The best route to savings — already embodied in the reform law — is to make the health care system more efficient over all so that costs are reduced for Medicaid, Medicare and private insurers as well. Various pilot programs to reduce costs might be speeded up.… And if government [were](http://www.kaiserhealthnews.org/Columns/2011/April/040411cannon.aspx) [smart](https://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=10646), [rather](https://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=13235) [than](http://www.kaiserhealthnews.org/Columns/2011/June/060311cannon.aspx) [stupid](http://www.kaiserhealthnews.org/Columns/2011/June/062711cannon.aspx), that would work. I’ve got [a better idea for cutting Medicaid](http://www.kaiserhealthnews.org/Columns/2011/May/050511cannon.aspx) that meets the *Times*’s criterion of not causing undue harm to millions. ##### Related Tags [Government and Politics](https://www.cato.org/government-politics), [Health Care](https://www.cato.org/health-care) [![Creative Commons License](/build/cato_2020/images/creative-commons.svg)](http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/) This work is licensed under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/).