Washington
Times (DC) March 13, 2019
House Democrats
said Tuesday they will reject a portion of President Trump's budget that would
convert Medicaid from an open-ended entitlement to fixed amounts of money for
states, though they do fear the administration will go around them.
Mr. Trump's fiscal
2020 budget would shift $1.2 trillion in Medicaid spending over 10 years to
block grants starting in 2021, while eliminating funding Obamacare's expansion
of the program in dozens of states.
Democrats say
that's a non-starter, arguing a fixed allotment would result in states
rationing care and knocking people out of Medicaid, which insures tens of
millions of low-income Americans. Similar fears contributed to the failure of a
GOP plan to repeal and replace Obamacare in 2017.
"Congress has
already rejected attempts to block-grant Medicaid, so it's deeply troubling to
see this administration double down," said Rep. G.K. Butterfield, North
Carolina Democrat.
Mr. Butterfield
demanded to know whether HHS plans to urge states to request a block grant,
anyway, without the participation of Congress. They said cited news reports and
swirling rumors that HHS planned to issue guidance inviting states to do just
that, using existing waivers.
Health Secretary
Alex Azar said his agency doesn't plan to go around lawmakers to make changes,
though he couldn't predict whether states will begin asking for block grants.
"Absent
statute, we can't force a state to do anything like that in Medicaid,"
Health Secretary Alex Azar testified. "That would have to be a governor
and legislature coming to us."
Mr. Azar testified
that if the agency did receive that kind of waiver request, it would have to
asses it with legal counsel and the White House Office of Management and
Budget.
Mr. Butterfield
wanted Mr. Azar to promise that no enrollee would lose coverage or their
doctors from any such waiver.
"You couldn't
make that commitment about any type of waiver," Mr. Azar said, arguing
they each have redistributive effect.
The back and forth
was part of a broader hearing on Mr. Trump's 2020 budget proposal.
No comments:
Post a Comment