WASHINGTON -- This week the United States Senate passed an amendment that would protect states like Alabama from threatened cuts to their Medicaid programs.  U.S. Representative Artur Davis (D-Al) has introduced similar legislation in the House and feels that the Senate results bode well for success and ultimate protection for Alabama against nearly $35 million in scheduled cuts to its Medicaid program.

“For the better part of a year, I have sponsored legislation that would spare Alabama from severe cuts in federal funding for our Medicaid program,” Davis said.  “I am pleased that yesterday the Senate passed an amendment virtually identical to my bill in the House, and I am heartened that at least some Republicans crossed party lines to allow this victory.  As the House prepares for its own budget showdown, I will continue to fight cuts that will negatively impact my state and my district.”

The House bill, as in the Senate, would suspend scheduled cuts to Medicaid programs in 33 states, which are set and placed on a timetable based on formulas developed by the federal government.  Due to an outdated formula calculating the matching rates for the Federal Medical Assistance Percentage (FMAP) for Medicaid, Alabama is scheduled for a 1.32 percent decrease totaling $34.2 million in 2006.

Earlier this year, Davis introduced HR 2258 to deal with the FMAP issue with Republican Alabama Congressman Spencer Bachus, Mike Rogers, and Jo Bonner all serving as original co-sponsors of the bill.  Also, immediately after Hurricane Katrina struck in late August, Davis introduced HR 3735, which would simply delay cuts to the program for one year as victims of the tragedy, many of whom would need Medicaid in states where they are temporarily located, received assistance.  Both bills have been referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.

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Below is the vote on Bingaman Amdt #2365 which passed 54-45-1.  States that benefited from the amendment, the dollar amount saved for their Medicaid programs, as well as the votes of the state’s delegation, are below.

U.S. Senate Roll Call Votes 109^th Congress - 1^st Session

Vote Summary

Alabama - $34.2 million (Sessions and Shelby – nay)

Arizona - $22.3 million (Kyl and McCain – nay)

Arkansas - $14.3 million (Lincoln and Pryor – aye)

Delaware - $1.7 million (Biden and Carper – aye)

Florida - $25.1 million (Nelson – aye, Martinez – nay)

Georgia - $7.5 million (Isakson and Chambliss – nay)

Idaho - $5.1 million (Crapo and Craig – nay)

Kansas – $2.1 million (Roberts and Brownback – nay)

Kentucky - $1.9 million (McConnell and Bunning – nay)

Louisiana - $43.0 million (Landrieu – aye, Vitter – nay)

Maine - $34.9 million (Snowe and Collins – aye)

Michigan - $2.0 million (Stabenow and Levin – aye)

Mississippi - $21.8 million (Lott and Cochran – nay)

Montana - $6.2 million (Baucus – aye, Burns – nay)

Nevada - $17.0 million (Reid – aye, Ensign – nay)

New Mexico - $66.4 million (Bingaman and Domenici – aye)

North Carolina - $13.7 million (Burr and Dole – nay)

North Dakota - $6.5 million (Conrad and Dorgan – aye)

Oklahoma - $51.8 million (Coburn and Inhofe – aye)

Oregon - $6.0 million (Wyden – aye, Smith – nay)

Rhode Island - $8.2 million (Reed and Chafee – aye)

South Carolina - $6.2 million (Graham and DeMint – nay)

South Dakota - $2.9 million (Johnson – aye, Thune – nay)

Tennessee - $26.6 million (Frist and Alexander – nay)

Texas - $112.8 million (Hutchison and Cornyn – aye)

Utah - $13.6 million (Hatch and Bennett – nay)

Vermont - $10.1 million (Jeffords and Leahy – aye)

West Virginia - $27.4 million (Rockefeller and Byrd – aye)

Wisconsin - $9.0 million (Feingold and Kohl – aye)

Wyoming - $13.0 million (Thomas and Enzi – nay)