Members of the federal Medicaid commission charged with recommending meagre- and lengthy-reach an agreement reforms to the program “made clear” on Wednesday that the commission “would not rubberstamp proposals” from the Bush superintendence, which appointed the commission’s members, or the… Popular Governors Association, the New York Times reports (Pear, New York Times, 8/18). The commission is required by Sept. 1 to submit a explore with recommendations on how to reduce Medicaid spending expansion by $10 billion ended the next five years. The flash disclose, due Dec. 31, 2006, will include recommendations for stabilizing Medicaid over the long settle. Congressional leaders of both parties were to select eight lawmakers to go through as nonvoting members. However, congressional Democrats have refused to participate because they fundamentally disagreed with the commission’s mission of penetrating Medicaid spending. HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt in July announced 13 voting members and 15 nonvoting members of the commission (Kaiser Circadian Strength Policy Broadcast, 7/12). In reckoning, doctors attending the meeting on Wednesday in Washington, D.C., “clashed” with Bush provision officials over a plan to increase copayments in the course of goods and services from $3 to $5 for adults and to make known $3 copays for children, the Times reports. Beneficiaries would up c release $4 billion in additional charges upwards five years, according to the Congressional Budget Office.
Commission Member Comments
Michael O’Grady, assistant secretary of HHS and a commission member, said the changes would make beneficiaries more “price sensitive” and added, “We are talking about the price of a pack of cigarettes.” O’Grady said maximum copay levels had not been raised since the early 1980s. CMS Medicaid Director Dennis Smith said the increased copays were not a large amount of money compared to the $2 trillion the program expects to spend in the next five years. John Nelson, former president of the American Medical Association and a commission member, said, “If we raise the copayment, some people will not get the care they need.” Nelson said people who forego regular medical care could seek treatment in an ED, which costs substantially more. Carol Berkowitz, president of the American Academy of Pediatrics and a commission member, said copayments could add up considerably for a family with four children (New York Times, 8/18).
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