Medicaid Benefits on Chopping Block; Federal Funds for America’s Poor and Elderly at Risk; Medicaid and Medicare Benefit News 2011

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The current GOP plan is to cut funding for certain state and federally funded programs. In order to reduce the national deficit, the Republican contingent has determined it necessary to reduce funding to some of the more popular programs funded by the government, such as Medicare and Medicaid. Medicaid provides health services for the poor but if funding cut proposals become law, the program may have to drastically reduce or even eliminate services. According to the 2012 budget proposal that was introduced this week, Medicaid funding would diminish. The GOP plan would require that the federal funding to individual states be specified amount with a ceiling instead of determined based on need. Currently, the Medicaid funding plan calculates the money spent by the state and then federal funding is issued to that state based on a needs based calculation. The reformed method, if proposals become law, would allow the federal government to provide individual states with only a one time lump sum. The GOP states that this change would add up to significant savings over time, but other experts fear that this change would curtail benefits for many. It appears that the public contingent most hurt by these potential changes would be the poorest members of our nation. Most agree that Medicaid needs to experience a "fix" or some type of reform, but many disagree on the approach. Author: Genny Germano

Medicaid Benefits on Chopping Block; Federal Funds for America's Poor and Elderly at Risk; Medicaid and Medicare Benefit News 2011