GOVERNORS ASKED TO POSTPONE STRUCTURAL CHANGES TO MEDICAID PROGRAM

Families USA Urges National Governors Association to Keep Proposals Out of the Current Congressional Budget Process

This weekend, the National Governors Association (NGA) meets to vote on a series of recommendations for changing the Medicaid program. The following is the statement of Ron Pollack, Executive Director of Families USA, about the NGA proposal:

"We urge the National Governors Association to refrain from promoting their far-reaching, structural proposals about the Medicaid program in the context of the congressional budget process. Earlier this year, the NGA agreed with this position and it issued a letter stating that good policy analysis should precede budget changes, not vice versa.

"The NGA proposals contain some helpful as well as very harmful recommendations that could have a profound impact on the 53 million people who depend on Medicaid as their health safety net. Therefore, the proposals should be carefully examined, and they should not be part of a rushed process dictated by arbitrary funding targets.

"Proposed improvements aimed at containing the costs of prescription drugs that are purchased by Medicaid merit serious attention and support. We believe that cost efficiencies that won't harm beneficiaries can and should be created. We also believe that some other proposals-such as those that would improve access to home and community based care and that encourage chronic care management-could be beneficial to the Medicaid enrollees who are most in need of care.

"However, the NGA recommendations also contain far-reaching, structural changes that would be very harmful to seniors, children, and people with disabilities who depend on Medicaid as their health safety net. The proposal that would result in increased premiums, deductibles, and copayments could make health care services unaffordable for the Medicaid program's low-income population. The reduction in benefits could also put essential health services out of reach for low-income seniors, children, and people with disabilities.

"The NGA proposals should be carefully scrutinized in the course of a broader examination of the Medicaid program but should not be adopted in the context of achieving short-run, arbitrary budget targets. And they should only be considered once there is a clear understanding of what the implications might be for low-income beneficiaries."

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Families USA is the national organization for health care consumers. It is nonprofit and nonpartisan and advocates for high-quality, affordable health care for all Americans.

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