Thanks to many of you, a flood of calls to governors’ offices throughout the country opposing the block granting of Medicaid apparently has slowed the National Governors Association’s vote on a plan to drastically change the federal role in Medicaid funding and regulation. 

The NGA Task Force on Medicaid reform was expected to vote on the proposal early this week and send it to the NGA executive committee and full membership by next week.  However, it now appears there will be no votes before next week. Two members of the Task Force, Gov. Bob Holden of Missouri and Gov. Bill Richardson of New Mexico, have now written letters opposing the plan. 

If you oppose the pending plan, you can do two things to keep pressure on the governors to defeat the plan, which would cap federal expenditures for programs that serve most Medicaid beneficiaries in nursing homes and erode current regulations that assure access, financial protection, and quality assurance:

• Continue calls to our governor’s office to ask him to oppose the NGA block grant proposal. The calls are working!  Ask your friends, family in other states to call their governors -- particular targets are Gov. Gary Locke (WA); Gov. Rod Blagojevich (IL); Gov. Jennifer Granholm (MI); Gov. Edward Rendell (PA); Gov. Gray Davis (CA); and Gov. Mark Warner (VA). 
• Florida’s Senators (and many others) have signed a letter to President Bush.  Drafted by Sen. Jeff Bingaman (D) of New Mexico, the letter opposes any Medicaid reform proposal that caps federal Medicaid spending or eliminates federal guarantees of coverage.  If you have friends, relatives in other states, there are several senators who have not signed on – namely, Sen. Evan Bayh (IN); Sen. Joe Biden (DE); Sen. Robert Byrd (WV); Sen. Tom Carper (DE); Sen. Kent Conrad (ND); Sen. Fritz Hollings (SC); Sen. Mary Landrieu (LA); Sen. Blanche Lincoln (AR); Sen. Barbara Mikulski (MD); Sen. Zell Miller (GA); Sen. Ben Nelson (NE); and Sen. Debbie Stabenow (MI). A copy of the letter follows.

June 10, 2003

The Honorable George W. Bush
President
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W.
Washington, D.C.  20500

Dear Mr. President:

We are writing to express our opposition to any Medicaid reform proposal that seeks to impose a cap on federal Medicaid spending in any form or eliminates the fundamental guarantee to Medicaid coverage for our nation’s most vulnerable citizens, including low-income children, parents, pregnant women, people with disabilities, and senior citizens.

Since 1965, the federal government has helped states pay for the basic health care and long-term services low-income Americans need.  A cap on federal funding – whether in the form of an allotment, an allocation, or a block grant – would fundamentally undermine that commitment.  We are unwilling to allow the federal government to walk away from Medicaid’s 43 million beneficiaries, the providers that serve them, and the urban and rural communities in which they live.

Arbitrary limits on federal Medicaid spending fail to automatically adjust for economic recessions, demographic changes, health care inflation, or disasters, including terrorism.  No formula can account for the multitude of factors that affect Medicaid costs at different times in different parts of the country.  Moreover, capped federal payments profoundly limit a State’s ability to respond and be innovative in ways to respond to the growing number of uninsured in this country.

We stand ready to work with you on policies impacting the health and well-being of dual eligibles, who are eligible for both Medicare and Medicaid coverage, and identifying those structural changes that enhance state flexibility without compromising the health and well-being of beneficiaries.

With the number of uninsured growing in the nation and an aging population, we should take steps to stabilize and improve health coverage rather than undermine it.  We hope to work with you to achieve that purpose.

Sincerely,

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