State Governors Lobby Federal Government for More Medicaid Funding
Many states are experiencing increases in Medicaid enrollment while tax revenues are falling below projections, the AP/San Francisco Chronicle reports.
According to the AP/Chronicle, the unemployment rate has increased from 4.7% to 6.7% at the beginning of the recession in December 2007. An analysis released earlier this year by the Kaiser Family Foundation's Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured found that each one percentage point increase in unemployment leads to an additional one million beneficiaries enrolled in Medicaid and SCHIP. Currently, Medicaid covers nearly one in six low-income U.S. residents.
In the budget year ending Sept. 30, 2007, Medicaid spending totaled $333 billion, with the federal government paying 57% of those costs. As Medicaid enrollment continues to grow, state governors are asking President-elect Barack Obama to increase federal Medicaid spending by $40 billion over two years. The governors say the additional funding will "ease the service cuts or tax increases that legislatures need to balance state budgets," according to the AP/Chronicle.
To date, 19 states, including California, have implemented or proposed cuts to Medicaid or SCHIP for the current fiscal year or FY 2010, according to a Families USA survey.
California requires children to reapply every six months, and the state also might put new applicants for children's coverage on a waiting list.
In addition, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) recently proposed reducing income eligibility limits for parents from 100% of the federal poverty level to 72%.
Meanwhile, Nevada eliminated coverage of vision care for adults and limited coverage of personal care services, while South Carolina limited prescriptions and refills to a maximum 31-day supply and Rhode Island has limited coverage for drugs to generics (Freking, AP/San Francisco Chronicle, 12/22).
Broadcast Coverage
NPR's "News & Notes" last week examined the economic recession's effects on the health care system. The segment includes comments from Thomas Lee, associate editor of the New England Journal of Medicine, and Tanyech Walford, a primary care physician (Chideya, "News & Notes," NPR, 12/18).
This is part of the California Healthline Daily Edition, a summary of health policy coverage from major news organizations. Sign up for an email subscription.