Monterey, CA Some States Preparing To Give Medicaid Recipients The Boot
by Richard Kuehn on 07/11/12
View From A Non-Profit Serving Carmel, Carmel Valley, Carmel-by-the-Sea, Gonzalez, Greenfield, King City, Marina, Monterey, Pacific Grove, Pebble Beach, Salinas, Seaside And Soledad California The U.S. Supreme Court has struck down a mandate which would have required states to roll out the Medicaid program (called Medi-Cal in California) to an additional 17 million Americans. However, many states are likely to add the new recipients anyway because the Federal government is footing most of the bill. The question is, how many, and will California be one of them? 26 states filed suit against the government challenging the policy that would force the states to pick up a small percentage of the bill (nothing from 2014-2016 and then gradually increasing to 10% by 2020). But there is a big question as to what the future of the health care system would look like if states do not follow the program being promoted by President Obama. Health Care Reform was written so that the well off which didn’t have insurance would get a tax credit to subsidize buying insurance, while those who couldn't afford to buy it would go on Medi-Cal or Medicaid. The government still plans to offer the tax credit to the wealthy, but the poor may fall through the cracks if states refuse to adopt the program. What's frightening is that some states not only are steadfast in their resolve of not adding the new recipients, but some have seen the Supreme Court ruling as an acknowledgement that they can do whatever they want with their programs and are taking draconian measures. The Maine attorney general's office is preparing a legal argument to throw 20,000 people out of the Medicaid program beginning in October which will save them $10 million by next July. "We think we're on solid legal ground," Attorney General William Schneider told the Wall Street Journal. "We're going to reduce eligibility back to the base levels in a couple of areas," he said. Alabama and Wisconsin are reportedly going to follow suit and Indiana and New Jersey are also considering doing so, although this will surely end up in the courts as well. It's not clear what Governor Jerry Brown will do. On the one hand, most Democratic governors have not challenged this aspect of health care reform. On the other hand, Governor Brown has made myriad cuts to programs impacting seniors and the poor on Medi-Cal, some of which have already been challenged in court. There are no easy answers. Our state faces a huge budget shortfall. More budget cuts are on the way to be sure, we will have to wait and see how seniors are impacted. One of our Platinum sponsors, Alliance Home Health, relies heavily on Medicare and Medi-Cal payments for clients, many of which are seniors recovering from serious illness. I feel badly for those that are poor and not on the Medi-Cal roles who don't even have the luxury to call a home health service to help them because they simply don't have the money.
Please note that this blog reflects my personal opinion and may or may not reflect the opinion of HandsTo Help Seniors and the individual members comprising the Board of Governors.
