Health - Medicaid

Medicaid

Link to the Medicaid Archive section, which contains information on Rep. Waxman's work through 1998.

Introduction

Medicaid is one of our nation's most important health care programs. It was created in 1965 as a cooperative effort between states and the federal government to provide health insurance to needy Americans, including children, pregnant women, disabled individuals and the elderly poor.

Medicaid covers hospital, physician, clinic, nursing home, prescription drug, and other basic and long-term health care services for more than 46 million Americans. Over 23.3 million, or half of all Medicaid beneficiaries, are children. Another 4.4 million are elderly, 7.7 million are disabled, and over 11 million are low-income women caring for dependent children. Paying for about half of the nursing home care provided in this country, Medicaid is America's largest single purchaser of nursing home care. Medicaid is also the health insurer for over one fourth of all of America's children.  Medicaid is the nation's single largest purchaser of maternity care, paying for almost 40% of all deliveries. Finally, Medicaid is the safety net for nearly 6.5 million low-income Medicare beneficiaries, who get help from Medicaid with their Medicare premiums, deductibles, and coinsurance.

Through his work as a member of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce and as the Ranking Member of the House Government Reform Committee, Rep. Waxman continues his fight for accessible health care on behalf of the 46 million vulnerable Americans that Medicaid serves. A chronology of these efforts is below.

You may wish to review the following reports from the Congressional Research Service as well.

Medicaid Issues for the 109th Congress

Medicaid and SCHIP: FY2007 Budget Issues

Medicaid: A Primer

Chronology

August 10, 2006
Rep. Waxman Requests Medicaid Documents to be Properly Posted on Website
Rep. Waxman asks that guidance letters provided to state Medicaid programs be provided on the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services website in a format generally accessible to standard computer users.

March 20, 2006
Speech: Annual Meeting of the National Association of Psychiatric Health Systems

2005
Rep. Waxman Sponsors HR, 1668, the "Kids First Act of 2005"
Under this proposal, there will be a true federal - state partnership where the best elements of shared responsibility contribute to the creation of an affordable, reliable comprehensive system of care for all children. The bill focuses on three main areas: how to get states to expand coverage; how to get parents to share in the responsibility of covering their children; and how to eliminate enrollment barriers that prevent eligible children from signing up for coverage.
Bill Text

September 6, 2005
Greater Use of Medicaid Services Needed in Wake of Hurricane Katrina
Rep. Waxman joins his colleagues in asking HHS Secretary Michael O. Leavitt to support legislation that would provide full Federal payment for Medicaid to the states affected by this disaster. In addition, HHS is asked to take executive action to ensure that States can quickly and generously use their Medicaid programs without fear that Federal second-guessing of expenses will follow. States should be encouraged to accept the applicant's personal declaration of eligibility without requiring documentation that may no longer exist.

June 22, 2005
Rep. Waxman's Opening Statement before the Subcommittee on Health of the House Energy and Commerce Committee
At a hearing on Medicaid prescription drugs and options for payment reform, Rep. Waxman urges appropriate drug payment policy reforms and asks that the savings achieved in this area be reinvested in Medicaid to help make necessary changes in the program to better serve beneficiaries.

April 27, 2005
Rep. Waxman's Opening Statement before the Subcommittee on Health of the House Energy and Commerce Committee
At a hearing on long-term care and Medicaid, Rep. Waxman states that there should be a role for both private and public approaches to helping people with their long-term care needs. But reducing our fiscal commitment to Medicaid, or finding ways to deny its help to needy seniors and persons with disabilities, is not the right answer.

March 7, 2005
Lax Oversight of Medicaid Drug Pricing Costs Millions
Rep. Waxman releases a new GAO study that shows that the federal agency responsible for Medicaid has failed to ensure that the program get the "best possible" prices from prescription drug manufacturers, as required under law.

September 24, 2004
CMS Urged to Reconsider Citizenship Records Requirement
Rep. Waxman, Sen. Kennedy, Sen. Bingaman, and Rep. Solis urge the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to reconsider a proposal that would require hospitals seeking reimbursement to maintain records on the citizenship of patients who are undocumented immigrants.

March 18, 2004
Rep. Waxman's Opening Statement before the Subcommittee on Health of the House Energy and Commerce Committee
At a hearing on intergovernmental transfers, Rep. Waxman urges a very cautious approach to interfering with a long-established and fragile system of fiscal support for this program at this time of critical need, with safety net institutions tottering on the brink and the number of uninsured rising every day.

January 6, 2004
Rep. Waxman's Opening Statement before the Senate Democratic Policy Committee
At a hearing on the problem of the uninsured, Rep. Waxman urges action on an indefensible problem in this country: 43.6 million people without health insurance. He demands a commitment of our nation's resources to provide the services that our citizens need and deserve.

March 12, 2003
Rep. Waxman's Opening Statement before the Subcommittee on Health of the House Energy and Commerce Committee
At a hearing on Medicaid today from the States' perspective, Rep. Waxman speaks out against a proposal from the Bush Administration that would take the first steps toward block granting the Medicaid program, removing vital protections for beneficiaries and capping the Federal commitment to bear its fair share of the cost of the program.

May 15, 2002
HHS Letter: CDC to Guide Lead Screening Policy
In response to an April 17 letter from Rep. Waxman and other members, HHS Secretary Thompson has promised to be guided by the experts at CDC in determining policies for testing children for lead poisoning, rejecting an ill-advised proposal to end universal screening under Medicaid for lead poisoning.

March 18, 2002
New Mexico Youth Incarcerated Due to Lack of Treatment Services
Senator Jeff Bingaman, Rep. Tom Udall, and Rep. Waxman released a report revealing that hundreds of New Mexico youth suffering from mental health problems were incarcerated in juvenile detention centers because treatment spots were not available. The report finds that from January to December 2001, an estimated 718 youth were collectively incarcerated for 31.3 years even after being cleared to leave to obtain mental health services. Inadequate federal oversight of the state's Medicaid program is a key cause of this problem.

August 13, 2001
Medicaid Managed Care Protections
On August 13, Rep. Waxman, along with Reps. John Dingell and Sherrod Brown, sent a letter to President Bush regarding the Administration´s attempts to undermine key measures to protect against managed care abuses. On August 2, President Bush publicly endorsed H.R. 2563, a patient rights bill that calls for the same patient protections for patients covered by Medicaid as for those with privately insurance. However, just two weeks later, on August 16, the Administration moved to delay and weaken patient rights in the Medicaid program. Rep. Waxman, along with Reps. John Dingell and Sherrod Brown, exposed this glaring contradiction in a letter to President Bush. Reps. Waxman, Dingell, and Brown prepared a comparison between H.R. 2563 and pending Medicaid patient protections.

July 1, 2001
Children's Access to Health Screening Services
At the request of Reps. Waxman and Dingell, the General Accounting Office (GAO) investigated the extent to which children in Medicaid are receiving important health screening and other preventive services. In July 2001, GAO reported that many children are not receiving the services required by law and that managed care plans participating in Medicaid do a poor job of providing data to states and the federal government about the provision of these required services.

February 16, 2001
Medicaid Drug Price Manipulation
At Rep. Waxman's request, the Inspector General of HHS and the Special Investigations Division have examined allegations that drug companies have circumvented the requirement that they provide the Medicaid program with rebates based on their “best” or lowest drug prices.

February 20, 1998
Children's Access to Lead Screening
At the request of Rep. Waxman, GAO investigated whether children in Medicaid receive necessary screening for lead poisoning. In February 1998, GAO found that most Medicaid children had never been screened, and that an estimated 352,000 children covered by Medicaid probably had lead poisoning that was undetected.