Medicaid | MacIver Institute

Son of a Stimulus Advances!

We hate to say we told you so, but we told you so.

Back in June, The MacIver Institute warned taxpayers that a second stimulus package was making its way through Congress. At the time, the media was reporting that the package had “failed to gain the necessary support” to pass the Senate.

We suggested taxpayers might still want to hold on tightly to their wallets.

Wednesday, The Wall Street Journal is reported that the Senate voted to end debate on the bill to “provide $26 billion in emergency aid to state and local governments to expand Medicaid and avoid teacher layoffs.”

The bill provides approximately $16 billion in funding to states to help cover their rising costs due to an expansion of the Medicaid program and $10 billion to school districts to avoid the layoffs of teachers this fall. Democrats believe the bill will save 140,000 teacher jobs.

The Son of a Stimulus package will supposedly be paid for with an $11 billion dollar tax increase on corporations, the repeal of the “advanced earned-income tax credit” and $12 billion dollars in cuts to food stamp benefits. The food stamp benefit cuts are not scheduled to go in to effect until 2014.

This new spending bill passed despite estimates from the National Debt Commission that “the nation’s federal debt next year is expected to exceed $14 trillion — about $47,000 for every U.S. resident.”

We would do our “I told you so” dance if our exploding debt wasn’t such a serious threat to the future of our country.

Read our original prediction here. Click here for the latest Washington update from The Hill.

Tags: Economy, Federal Budget, Labor Unions, Medicaid, President Obama, Spending, Stimulus Watch, Taxes
Posted in mi perspectives | August 4, 2010 | | No Comments

Amended BadgerCare Basic Bill Passes Senate

MacIver News Service – [Madison, Wisc...] On Thursday, the Wisconsin Senate passed legislation to create a new health insurance program for more than 20,000 Wisconsin residents currently on a waiting list for a different, more lucrative aid program.

The bill, SB484, was originally on Tuesday’s calendar, but when Senator Kathleen Vinehout (D-Alma) and some of her fellow Democratic Senators began to ready amendments to the legislation, the Senate Majority Leader Russ Decker (D-Schofield) maneuvered the bill back to the Senate Organization Committee.

During the early afternoon debate Thursday, Republican Senator Ted Kanavas (R-Brookfield) was blunt in his assessment about what is wrong with the plan.

He argued the Wisconsin Commissioner of Insurance would never allow a company in the private sector to market a plan like BadgerCare Basic, which Kanavas said will not have enough reserves to cover the risk the State is assuming, “There are simply not enough funds to support the kind of claims you are going to see.”

An effort was made to once again send the bill back to the Senate Org Committee, this time put forward by Republican Leader Scott Fitzgerald (R-Juneau).

Before the vote, Senator John Erpenbach (D-Waunakee) warned his fellow Democrats, ” If you vote to send this back to committee, you vote to kill this.”

After a lengthy debate of more than 90 minutes, Senator Fitzgerald’s motion failed 15-18, with all the Democrats voting no. Debate then began on a series of amendments.

A Vinehout amendment (SA3) to require an audit of the program passed with a bipartisan vote of 23-10 (with Democrats Carpenter, Jauch, Kreitlow, Plale, Robson, Sullivan and Taylor joining Vinehout and all the Republicans in support).

Before the final vote, Senate Fitzgerald made one last stand, arguing the plan would prove to be an expensive burden on Wisconsin taxpayers.

“This is the public option that we are voting on, just so we are clear,”said Fitzgerald. “This is Obamacare light.”

Senator Erpenbach defended his bill.

“This isn’t going to cost the state any money,” said Erpenbach. He argued it was not universal coverage and that eligible individuals could choose whether or not to enroll.

“Here is a choice, this is a choice they have, if they choose to do so,” he said. “Obamacare? No, not even close.”

Shortly after 3pm, the bill passed 17-16 with Vinehout the lone Democrat joining the Republicans in voting no.

The bill now awaits action in the State Assembly.

Under SB484, BadgerCare Plus Basic would accept customers with pre-existing conditions, would cost enrollees $130 per month and supporters argue it is designed to pay for itself without additional tax dollars. The plan covers low income, childless adults, the same population served by BadgerCare Plus Core. The Core Plan was only expected to serve about 40 thousand people during a two-year period, but that number was reached in only a few months.

The state had to cut off enrollment in October, leaving more than five thousand people on an initial waiting list. A list that quickly surged to more than 23,000. The proposed Basic plan offers leaner benefits, higher co-pays and deductibles, but opponents say the proposal is undercapitalized and ultimately will result in either the State picking up cost overruns, or ending the program due to lack of funds.

Tags: Health Care, Medicaid, Spending
Posted in News | February 25, 2010 | | 2 Comments

Medicaid is Wisconsin Budget Buster

Remember that sweater Grandma gave you for Christmas when you were eight years old, and your mom gave you that look that said if you didn’t give a sincere thank you the GI JOE doll under the tree would be given to your little brother? Senator Harry Reid and the Democrats in the US Senate have scheduled the vote on their version of health care reform for Thursday night at 8:00 PM central time. Thanks Grandma.

The Senate health care reform plan is full of lots of goodies for those who were nice to Senator Reid in finding him the 60 votes necessary for the vote in the dark of early Monday morning that would limit debate. Unfortunately for many states, the Senate health care reform bill will increase Medicaid costs as the program expands nationally to cover those under 133% of the federal poverty line.

If you are wondering why Senator Ben Nelson of Nebraska gave in to his Democratic colleagues to become the 60th vote necessary to limit debate on the health care bill, Nebraska will receive 100% funding from the federal government to cover the expansion of Medicaid in that state.

In Wisconsin, we could have used that kind of relief for our versions of Medicaid, Badger Care Plus (including the Core Plan). It is unlikely that Wisconsin’s burden from Medicaid will go up under the new federal health care plan. Not because either Senator Feingold or Senator Kohl was able to cut a deal, but because Wisconsin already spends so much on state run health care. To make matters worse, Wisconsin’s Medicaid programs are $1 billion behind.

If we were to join the rest of the country in providing health insurance for those that are at 133% of the federal poverty line, we would actually be reducing the rolls of Medicaid recipients in Wisconsin. Only 17.2% of Wisconsinites would qualify for Medicaid coverage under the current federal health care plan.

That sounds like a lot, but with the expansion of government coverage in Wisconsin since 1998, nearly one in five Wisconsin residents is receiving Medical Assistance, and enrollment in the state’s Medicaid programs has jumped 174%, according to the Wisconsin Taxpayers Alliance. In 1998, less than one in thirteen residents received medical assistance.

Wisconsin’s Badger Care Plus generally covers residents at 150% of the poverty line, although there are exceptions that even go up to 300% of the federal poverty line. The Core Plan covers childless adults up to 200% of the poverty line if they do not qualify for any other federal assistance, again substantially higher than what other states will be covering.

In an effort to contain costs on the state’s Medicaid programs, the state budget planned on $600 million in cost savings in the current budget biennium. However, $195.4 million are from one-time savings that will have to be covered in the next biennium. We’re putting off to tomorrow what we should be paying today, only making what we have to pay tomorrow even bigger.

The current budget also relies upon temporary increased federal matching, $317 million, as a result of the federal stimulus bill. There is a bill in congress to extend the increased matching through June 2011, but then the stimulus funding would need to be replaced for the 2011-2013 biennial budget.

Now Wisconsin is experiencing higher-than-expected enrollment in our Medicaid programs because of the economy, and we’re experiencing an additional shortfall of $450 million. Enrollment in Badger Care Plus has leveled off for now, but it is still higher than planned.

So the news the Core Plan can no longer afford to add new enrollees, and that Wisconsin now has a waiting list looking for state medical assistance, should come as no surprise. As of November 14th, there were 7,434 people waiting on the Core Plan wait list.

We don’t need one of senators to blackmail the senate for more money, although it would help in the short run, we need to start promising less.

Unless Wisconsin gets control of its Medicaid costs soon, it will be the monster that eats the state budget.

By James Wigderson
Special Guest Perspective for the MacIver Institute

Tags: Health Care, Medicaid, Wigderson
Posted in mi perspectives | December 22, 2009 | | No Comments