A number of Governors are considering working together on Medicaid reform in an effort to present a united front to the Bush Administration and Congress. As we have been reporting here, Medicaid reform, a major goal of Bush et al, has been stymied by the refusal of Governors to make major concessions, a refusal backed by their allies in the Senate.
This has led to a stalemate, as States are seeking to preserve the Federal dollars that fund a large part of their Medicaid programs in a time when their own budgets are under pressure. On the other end of the seesaw is the Bush Administration, which has made cutting the Federal deficit a primary goal of the second term.
The Governors in question are evidently circulating a “straw man” memorandum in an effort to gain consenseus and present a united front to the Administration. While the contents of the memorandum are closely held, the following details about the memo have been reported:
–it includes a proposal that would make it more difficult for seniors seeking to qualify for nursing home benefits to transfer their assets to family members or others.
–Another proposal would allow the state to investigate more thoroughly a beneficiary’s finances and seek repayment for government-provided care
— one section floats a “trial balloon” re the establishment or increase of deductibles and copayments for beneficiaries. The idea is this would require beneficiaries to contribute to the cost of the program and discourage overuse and abuse.
–“The proposals also would try to discourage businesses from eliminating retiree health benefits or otherwise shifting employees to Medicaid, by establishing incentives such as tax credits” (Tanner, AP/Long Island Newsday, 4/25).
The good news here is this represents a serious attempt on the part of state legislators to address the Medicaid crisis. It also reflects their power and influence, a strength that the Bush Administration appears to have seriously discounted in their early calculus.
Reforming Medicaid is a critical component of national health reform, and some of these measures make a lot of sense. However, as most states have frozen physician reimbursement levels, and there have been no reports re any increases in their compensation, it is highly likely that there will be fewer docs who will accept Medicaid, thereby reducing access and therefore quality of care.
What does this mean for you?
Freezing MD reimbursement is a blunt instrument, which will have serious consequences not only for the health of Medicaid and Medicaid recipients, but also lead those docs to seek higher reimbursement from commercial payers.
Cost shifting will increase, and so will pressure on commercial loss ratios.
Apr
26
