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| Bipartisan Medicaid Commission Bill Garners Majority of House Members |
April 21, 2005 |
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Wilson & Christensen Building Support for Legislation with 228 Cosponsors
Washington, DC – Reps. Heather Wilson (R-NM) and Donna Christian-Christensen (D-VI) today announced that 228 House members – a majority of the House of Representatives – have now signed on to the House bill (H.R. 985) to create a bipartisan Medicaid Commission.
Wilson and Christensen are urging the House and Senate Budget Conferees to consider this strong support as they negotiate the final budget, and include $1.5 million in funding for the proposed commission. The bill has bipartisan support, as more than half the House members have signed on as cosponsors.
Wilson, who introduced the bill, is a member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, and chaired the Committee’s Medicaid Task Force in the 108th Congress. Christensen is chair of the Health Braintrust of the Congressional Black Caucus, and an original cosponsor.
The legislation has continued to rapidly gather support since Wilson and Christensen introduced it in February. The bill, endorsed by the Congressional Black Caucus and supported by the American Hospital Association, and the American Health Care Association, would create a bipartisan commission to study the Medicaid program and make recommendations for improvements.
“It’s time to take a serious look at making the Medicaid program work better for the people it serves,” Wilson said. “Medicaid has surpassed Medicare and is now the largest public health insurance program in the United States with 50 million beneficiaries and expenditures of $300 billion. While we have spent several years improving the Medicare program, Medicaid improvement is only now beginning to emerge as the next major health care challenge.”
“The Medicaid Commission is perhaps the one opportunity to make sure we ‘do no harm,’ to such a vital program as Medicaid,” Christensen said. “It would provide a balanced approach, that will provide sound information on the strengths and the weaknesses of the program, and the impact that any changes would have on the 50 million plus people who now depend on it for life saving care.”
Wilson and Christensen believe a commission can facilitate an open discussion about challenges facing the Medicaid program, options for reform and possible legislation to make the program better. As the largest health care program in the country, Medicaid serves over 50 million people.
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