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President Bush
Seeking to Cut Billions from Medicaid Without
Going to Congress First
The
Bush administration is seeking to cut billions
of dollars from Medicaid without any consideration
or approval from Congress. It is critical
that U.S. House Republicans co-sign a letter
to Health and Human Services Secretary Michael
Leavitt opposing the backdoor cuts to hospitals
and other health care providers.
President Bush’s FY
2007 budget proposal includes almost $36
billion in Medicare cuts ($19 billion from
hospitals) and $13.6 billion in Medicaid cuts
($5.8 billion from hospitals) that
will harm patients and
caregivers. Attached is specific
information on the
president’s budget
proposal and
statewide hospital-specific
impact analysis of the proposed cuts.
Of the $13.6
billion in proposed Medicaid cuts, $12.2 billion
could be implemented by the Bush administration
without input from Congress, regardless of
whether Congress would pass legislation opposing
the reductions. The White House proposal
could disrupt states’ 1115 Medicaid waiver
agreements and undermine ongoing Medicaid reform
efforts. Additionally, federal funding
generated through Michigan’s quality assurance
assessment program (QAAP) could be jeopardized
by this proposal.
Meanwhile, the
House Budget Committee recently approved a FY
2007 budget resolution that excluded specific
cuts to Medicare and Medicaid. And the Senate
narrowly approved a FY 2007 budget resolution
excluding the $36 billion in Medicare cuts and
$5.8 billion in Medicaid cuts proposed by the
president. MHA-member advocacy was instrumental
in securing support from Congress.
These
congressional efforts to protect vital Medicare
and Medicaid funding will be meaningless unless
the Bush administration hears from House Republicans.
If your U.S. Representative is a Republican, please also urge them to sign a “Dear
Colleague” letter written by Reps. Peter King,
(R-NY), Cliff Stearns, (R-FL), Dave Reichert,
(R-WA), and Rob Simmons, (R-CT), opposing Medicaid
and Medicare cuts made without the approval
of Congress. Click
here for a copy of the letter.
To locate your
federal lawmaker, visit our
Legislative Action Center and click on
My Elected Officials. Sample e-mails and
detailed instructions on how to use the Action
Center are also included on this page.
As a reminder, fax
and e-mail are the most effective ways to
communicate with members of Congress. Since
Sept. 11, 2001, letters sent to federal
lawmakers via the U.S. Postal Service are
delayed because of the extensive screening
process.
On a related
note, the 2006 American Hospital Association
Annual Membership meeting will be held next week
in Washington. MHA members will have the
opportunity to attend educational briefings on
various health care-related issues and meet with
their federal lawmakers. To register for this
meeting, please contact
Laura Appel at the MHA.
If you have any
questions regarding the Medicare or Medicaid
budgets, please contact
Brian Peters, senior vice
president, Advocacy, MHA. For all other
questions, please contact
Lori Latham, director, political affairs,
Advocacy, MHA. Thank you for your attention to
this important issue. |
