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The Medicaid Task Force of the National Governors Association is expected to vote this week on a proposal to use block grants and cap Medicaid spending for “optional beneficiaries” – who include 85 percent or more of nursing home residents who receive Medicaid. The NGA executive committee is expected to act on the proposal shortly afterwards, with a vote by all 50 NGA members by June 10. A two-thirds vote of the governors is needed for it to pass. The governors’ endorsement of the proposal could become the catalyst for Congress to enact catastrophic changes and funding cuts in Medicaid, unraveling decades of advocates’ efforts to ensure federal financial and quality of care protections for people who need long-term care. If you oppose this action and wish your voice to be heard in opposition to this subject, I urge you to contact your governor RIGHT AWAY. Please phone your governor’s office with the following simple message: “Please oppose any NGA plan that would block grant Medicaid or cap Medicaid funding.” Please identify yourself as an advocate for people who need long-term care. The NGA Task Force is made up of the governors of Kentucky and Idaho (Gov. Paul Patton and Gov. Dirk Kempthorne, respectively, are co-chairs); and the governors of Florida, Indiana, Connecticut, Iowa, Maryland, Missouri, North Dakota, and New Mexico. If you have friends or family or other contacts in these states, please ask them to call the governor’s office TODAY. If you have contacts in Missouri, please ask them to thank Gov. Holden (D) for his opposition to the proposal. Florida Governor Jeb Bush can be contacted
by e-mail at :
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