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| Wilson Urges Equity in Access to Quality Health Care |
March 12, 2003 |
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Wilson Welcomes Governor Richardson to Commerce Hearing
Washington, DC-In an Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee hearing, Wilson highlighted the inequities in New Mexico’s health care system that affect the accessibility of quality health care for women, children, and the elderly. Specifically, Wilson discussed the discriminatory reimbursement rates paid by the federal government, the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), the need for a prescription drug benefit under Medicare, and Disproportionate Share payments to hospitals (DSH). Governor Richardson was in Washington, DC to testify at the Health Subcommittee hearing.
Wilson pointed to the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) in New Mexico as a model for how Medicaid should work across the nation. SCHIP allows states such as New Mexico who have been innovative in its Medicaid program to use Medicaid for children in low-income families. Wilson cosponsored a bill to address the flaws in the SCHIP statute that penalize states that expanded their Medicaid program prior to 1997 such as New Mexico.
“The federal government pays less in Bernalillo, Torrance, and Sandoval counties than they do for Cook County in Illinois, or Staten Island, New York,” said Wilson. “We don’t pay into Medicare based on where we live, we shouldn’t be denied access to health care because of where we live.
“A prescription drug benefit under Medicare will help New Mexico. By adding this benefit, $87 million worth of pressure comes off the state Medicaid program that is trying to cover prescription drugs for low-income seniors.
“We need to address the Disproportionate Share to Hospitals issue. There are pockets of poverty and areas of hopelessness that we need to address. We need to reform this system and I look forward to working with you to do so.”
The DSH program is America’s primary source of support for safety net hospitals that serve the most vulnerable populations - Medicaid beneficiaries, the uninsured and the underinsured. For many hospitals, Medicaid DSH is the sole reason they are able to remain open to provide care.
Medicaid DSH is a critical component of maintaining access to health care. Unfortunately, extremely “low DSH” states (those with Medicaid DSH allotments less than 1% compared to the national average of 8%) receive far less federal funding through the Medicaid DSH program than the rest of the nation and this lack of funding threatens the viability of many of our safety net hospitals. Current legislation would increase the federal Medicaid DSH allotment in “low-DSH” states from 1% to 3% of program costs.
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