MEDICAID REFORM: BLOCK-GRANT WINNERS AND LOSERS
A new analysis of the GOP Medicaid block-grant proposalThis is part of the California Healthline Daily Edition, a summary of health policy coverage from major news organizations. Sign up for an email subscription.
prepared by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities says the
plan "would be highly inequitable" to the states, with some
ending up winners and other losers. According to Cindy Mann, the
director of the center's State Low-Income Initiative Project and
author of the analysis, the GOP block-grant formula "will leave
all states holding the bag for Medicaid expenses above their
federal payments, but those states receiving lower federal
payments could be at a particular fiscal disadvantage."
MEASURES: The analysis looked at four measures: "Medicaid
spending per state resident, per elderly resident, per poor
resident and per Medicaid beneficiary." According to the report,
Florida and Virginia would rank the lowest among the states under
all four measures. Moreover, Florida, Nevada, Virginia, Hawaii,
Iowa, Nebraska, Colorado and Kansas would receive Medicaid block
grants averaging "more than one-quarter below the national
average" in terms of spending per elderly resident. The report
also found that five of the ten states receiving the lowest
federal payment per poor resident -- California, Oklahoma,
Louisiana, Texas and New Mexico -- are "among the ten states in
the nation that have the highest poverty rates and need for
federal assistance."
CONCLUSION: According to Mann, "Because of the many factors
that affect Medicaid spending, what this analysis shows is how
difficult it is for any block-grant formula to assure a rational
and fair distribution of funds among states" (release, 6/11).
TODAY: Health and Human Services Secretary Donna Shalala
testified before the Senate Finance Committee this morning on the
Republican-proposed Medicaid and welfare reform bill (AHL
sources, 6/13).