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| Wilson Medicaid Effort Receives Broad Support in House |
April 26, 2005 |
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Wilson Working for Bipartisan Medicaid Commission
Washington, DC – Congresswoman Heather Wilson today voted in support of a non-binding motion to instruct conferees that passed 348-72 and reflects the intent of her letter urging the Budget Conference to restore funding for Medicaid and create a bipartisan Medicaid Commission.
“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 serving 50 million people.”
On April 8, Wilson sent a letter signed by 44 House Republicans to House Budget Committee Chairman Jim Nussle urging the reinstatement of $20 billion to the Medicaid program and $1.5 million to create a bipartisan Medicaid Commission.
Wilson, a member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, is the lead sponsor of H.R. 985, a bill which would create a bipartisan Medicaid Commission and has 222 cosponsors in the House. She chaired the House Medicaid Task Force in the 108th Congress, and believes that policy should drive the budget, instead of the budget driving policy.
Wilson believes that a bipartisan commission could serve as a credible forum for an honest, open discussion.
Text of April 8 letter to Chairman Nussle:
We are concerned that the inclusion of up to $20 billion in reductions from projected growth in the Medicaid program included in the House-passed FY06 Budget Resolution will negatively impact people who depend on the program and the providers who deliver health care to them while not putting us on the path to comprehensive reform and improvement that the program needs.
Therefore, we strongly urge you to remove these reductions and the reconciliation instructions targeted at Medicaid, and, in their place, include a $1.5 million reserve fund for the creation of a bipartisan Medicaid Commission in the final conference agreement for the FY06 Budget.
As detailed in H.R. 985, a Commission would serve as a credible forum for an honest, open discussion and the development of comprehensive recommendations on how we can reform the Medicaid program. The Commission would be the right setting at the right time to carefully deliberate and recommend solutions to improve the health of low-income Americans and put the program – one of the most complicated federal programs we oversee – on a stronger financial and management footing.
Medicaid is the largest health care program in the country, serving over 50 million people including more than one in four children and 6.4 million “dual eligibles” enrolled in both Medicare and Medicaid. As lawmakers, we know that any changes made to this program will have consequences for these individuals. We also know that health care is expensive and that our federal health care programs should get value for the money we spend, improve the health of people who depend upon them, and be accountable for results. We therefore believe that policy should drive the budget and not the budget drive policy.
Accordingly, we strongly urge you to remove the reductions and reconciliation instructions targeted at Medicaid, and instead include a reserve fund for the creation of a bipartisan Medicaid Commission. We appreciate the opportunity to work with you to address our concerns.
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