Of waste and want: A nationwide survey of medicaid funding for medically unnecessary, non-therapeutic circumcision

Abstract

The United States Medicaid Program funds over one-fourth of the 1.2 million unnecessary infant circumcisions performed each year at a cost exceeding $145 million, including doctor's fee, circumcision repair, and extended hospital stay. Additional lifetime costs bring the annual total to $443 million, about $11.6 million per state. The incidence of infant circumcision has been steadily declining over the past twenty-five years, from a time where almost all boys were circumcised to the present day, when about half are. During that same time period, costs have risen dramatically. With the exception of the United States, those few countries that adopted mass circumcision have already abandoned the practice. Medicaid budget shortfalls demand that only medically valid procedures be funded, and funding for cultural and cosmetic niceties be cut. Sixteen states do not fund infant circumcision, more are discussing defunding, and many private insurers do not cover infant circumcision. © 2006 Springer.