Governors take Medicaid recommendations to Congress

Healthcare Financial Management, August, 2005

The National Governors Association's bipartisan report is the beginning of the process of Medicaid reform, not the end, said NGA chairman Mark Warner (D Va.), as he and NGA vice chairman Mike Huckabee (B-Ark.) met with the Senate Finance and House Energy and Commerce Committees June 15. The NGA paper. Medicaid Reform: A Preliminary Report, makes recommendations that include incentives and penalties related to how much responsibility individuals take for their care, more flexibility for states with regard to benefits, leveraging public programs for better coverage rates for small purchasers, greater use of technology to reduce costs, and policies for reducing reliance on Medicaid.

Democratic committee members in both hearings expressed concern about proposed measures that might reduce access to health care for the poor. Republicans were more receptive to the NGA's report, but the prospect of increasing copayments bothered members of both parties.

To read the testimony of governors Warner and Huckabee to the Senate Finance Committee (identical to the House Energy and Commerce testimony), go to www.nga.org/nga/legislativeUpdate and click on "Testimony Index" in the right panel.

To read the NGA Medicaid reform report, go to www.nga.org/cda/files/0506medicaid.pdf.>

COPYRIGHT 2005 Healthcare Financial Management Association

COPYRIGHT 2005 Gale Group