USA Today reported yesterday that Medicaid costs have been decreasing over the last year, and editorializes (opinionates?) on the subject today. Like other social welfare programs, Medicaid has been a victim of its own success. It will cost taxpayers $300 billion this year (about 70% of the Pentagon's budget) and serves 56 million poor Americans. It has been the fastest-growing expense for states over the past decade, threatening to break budgets and force service cuts. Until now. For the first time, Medicaid spending has declined — by 1.4% in the first nine months of the year, USA TODAY's Dennis Cauchon reported Monday. That frees up billions of dollars in state budgets. Indeed, more than half of the states intend to restore previous cuts, according to an October study by the Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured. There are many reasons for the decline, some of which may be temporary, and some advocates worry that people may have lost needed coverage. But everyone should agree that Medicaid expenses are no longer an urgent problem that requires a comprehensive policy change. So the next time we talk about "entitlement reform," can we at least leave Medicaid out?