Government

Budget cuts reducing state health coverage

NEWS IN BRIEF — Posted Dec. 29, 2008

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Cuts to Medicaid and the State Children's Health Insurance Program have eliminated coverage for nearly 275,000 people, and proposed cuts could end coverage for an additional 763,000 people, according to a report released Dec. 11, 2008, by Families USA. Nineteen states have enacted or proposed cuts for fiscal 2009 or 2010, according to the report, "A Painful Recession: States Cut Health Care Safety Net Programs."

California accounted for the vast majority of reductions cited in the report. A new requirement that California parents re-enroll their children in Medicaid every six months instead of annually is expected to lead to 260,000 children losing coverage by 2011. Proposed cuts could cost an additional 160,000 children and 430,000 adults their Medicaid or SCHIP coverage, the report said.

The National Governors Assn. has asked Congress to increase the federal medical assistance percentage -- which determines the federal government's contribution to Medicaid spending -- for at least two years, though the NGA did not recommend a specific amount. "As governors work to reduce budget shortfalls and plan for the coming fiscal year, we need to be partners in an economic recovery strategy that includes additional funding for Medicaid and investments in infrastructure," said NGA Vice Chair Jim Douglas, who is Vermont's governor.

The Families USA report is online (link).

Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2008/12/29/gvbf1229.htm.

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