 |
| Wilson Welcomes Input from Governors at Medicaid Hearing |
June 15, 2005 |
| |
Wilson: Program Ripe for Reform
Washington, DC – Congresswoman Heather Wilson today said she welcomes Medicaid proposals from the nation’s governors and will continue to work for a system that provides better care.
In a hearing today in the House Energy and Commerce Committee, on which Wilson serves, Gov. Mike Huckabee (R-Arkansas) and Gov. Mark Warner (D-Virginia) presented bipartisan recommendations for Medicaid reform.
Wilson chaired the House Medicaid Task Force in the 108th Congress, and led efforts in the House to ensure that policy drives the budget.
“The governors are the key in any Medicaid reform effort. They have to make the tough decisions about eligibility and benefits. Over the last four years, every state has had to reduce eligibility, reduce benefits, or reduce payments to providers to cope with their Medicaid budget problems.
“I think it’s important to point out, however, that while these recommendations would provide some needed improvements in the short-term, this plan does not constitute the comprehensive reform needed in Medicaid. While the NGA preliminary report makes some helpful suggestions on slowing the growth of Medicaid long-term care expenses, I believe we need to examine the relationship between Medicaid and long-term care financing in a broader sense. We need a national strategy for long-term care in the United States. I believe we need a national strategy on long-term care that gets more private dollars into the system and prepares our country for the retirement of 76 million baby boomers by 2030.
“Medicaid is set up to pay claims, not improve anyone’s health. While this is a good start, we need more attention toward improving quality through efforts that hold states accountable for results and give them incentives for better health outcomes. This would require more quality measures, more data reporting, and more resources for chronic care management and prevention. Our goal here should be to improve the health of children, pregnant women, elderly, and disabled Americans on Medicaid, not to find savings in the program.
“At the hearing today, Gov. Huckabee said we are trying to run an MP3 health care program on a 45 rpm record player. He’s right. It’s time to modernize Medicaid. I look forward to hearing more about the proposal from the governors here today.”
- END - |
|
|
|