DLC says FIX Medicaid - don't cut it or destroy it

[papau]

DLC | New Dem Dispatch | February 11, 2005

The release of the presidents budget http://www.ndol.org/ndol_ci.cfm?kaid=131&subid=192&contentid=253155 earlier this week drew a lot of derisive attention to the administration's admission that the Medicare prescription drug benefit it championed in 2003 would cost nearly double the amount it originally claimed in selling the proposal to Congress. But less attention has been paid to the administration's proposal to cut funding for Medicaid -- the federal-state safety net that provides health care coverage to low-income families -- by some $45 billion through an ill-defined attack on waste, fraud, and abuse in the program.

A couple of years ago the administration proposed to simply "cap" federal Medicaid spending and force the states to either come up with more money (at a time when most were going through budget crises) or cut back on services and eligibility.

The new Health and Human Services Secretary, former Utah Governor Mike Leavitt, has made it clear the administration doesn't plan to bring back that non-starter. But he has also hinted that he wants to make it easier for states to restrict services and eligibility, something he has considerable power to do through administrative waivers. And the future direction of the GOP on Medicaid may well be reflected by Florida Governor Jeb Bush's radical proposal http://www.ndol.org/ndol_ci.cfm?contentid=253116&kaid=131&subid=192 to give private health plans unprecedented control over the level of services offered to particular beneficiaries -- or worse yet, Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour's proposal http://ssl.tnr.com/p/docsub.mhtml?i=20050221&s=trb022105 to eliminate eligibility altogether for tens of thousands of disabled adults whom he basically described as freeloaders.

Fortunately, a bipartisan group of U.S. Senators, led by Jeff Bingaman (D-NM) and Gordon Smith (R-OR), is stepping forward with an effort to make sure Medicaid's future is not determined in the context of federal budget-cutting. Bingaman and Smith introduced legislation http://www.ndol.org/documents/NDD_021105_billtext.pdf this week to set up a bipartisan commission to carefully and comprehensively evaluate Medicaid before any significant steps are taken to cut the program's funding. They have been joined in these efforts by independent Jim Jeffords (VT); Democrats John Kerry (MA), Dick Durbin (IL), Blanche Lincoln (AR), and Ben Nelson (NE); and Republicans Olympia Snow (ME), Lincoln Chafee (RI), Mike DeWine (OH), and Rick Santorum (PA).

The Senators made it clear http://www.ndol.org/documents/NDD_021105_factsheet.pdf that the budget process is the wrong way to deal with a safety net program that so often provides the last recourse for health care for the nation's most vulnerable families.
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The full article can be found here.

http://www.ndol.org/ndol_ci.cfm?kaid=131&subid=192&contentid=253166

Fact sheet on Medicaid is here
http://www.ndol.org/documents/NDD_021105_factsheet.pdf

[Sgent]

1. Lets be clear hear

Although I can't say how strongly I disagree with Barber, his proposal to eliminate all PLAD (poverty level aged and disabled) was perfectly legal under existing law. The problem wsa that the enacting legislation was written poorly (hence the federal court stay).

[Sugarbleus]

2. Ok, it's a month later and I"m just now responding..

It's difficult to say how much I hate these ner'dowells in Washington; their genocidal mania is beyond comprehending. CUT HEALTH CARE FOR THE SICK????????? Has this country lost it's friggin mind?!!

States are in a bind because of Bush's policies and his robbing of the treasury so he can go round the world playing dictator.

I was looking up some stuff on poverty last night; the link took me to New Republic/DLC et al..While I have no affection for DLC, I WAS surprised to see positive articles there regarding the poor in this country. Your article shows they appear to be concerned about medicaid as well. I'm glad someone is; we the underclass (and uninsured) are taking it in the shorts big time!!

If something isn't done to shore up our system, there is going to be a great and sad weeping and wailing heard across the country.