Medicaid Round Four
The Senate and House have very different ideas of what to do with Medicaid in coming years; this difference of opinion may deadlock the two bodies on overall budget negotiations.
Briefly, the Senate passed a budget with no cuts in Medicaid funding; the House version has $20 billion in budget reductions. The latest news indicates the Senate may be willing to compromise, but conservatives in the House appear to be less interested in restoring the funding the Bush Administration has axed from Medicaid.
As reported in California HealthLine;
"…House conservatives who oppose smaller Medicaid funding cuts could "complicat[e] the prospects" of a compromise, CongressDaily reports. Jim Horney, a senior fellow with the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, said, "If House conservatives really want to dig in their heels ... that may make it difficult to get a conference agreement." Horney added that Republican leaders are committed to reaching an agreement on a budget resolution, which might be the driving factor of a compromise."
Don't mistake this for idle political maneuvering. While $20 billion is not much (at least in Federal budget terms), this does represent the first real effort by the government to reduce Medicaid expenses by cutting benefits and tightening eligibility.
And if Medicaid rolls decrease, the number of uninsured increases.