It was reported in the Detroit News yesterday that Gov. Snyder will make a decision on Medicaid expansion THIS THURSDAY!
"Lansing -- Gov. Rick Snyder will fire the first shot in the next health care skirmish Thursday when he recommends in his budget presentation to the Legislature whether Michigan should open Medicaid to as many as half a million more residents."
Medicaid is a VOLUNTARY program
Medicaid Expansion is VOLUNTARY
Medicaid expansion WAS being forced by on the states by the Affordable Care Act (ACA) until the Supreme Court Ruling on ObamaCare. They ruled that the expansion was unconstitutional.Therefor,the Federal could NOT force the expansion on states,the decision to expand the taxpayer funded entitlement program is VOLUNTARY!
Medicaid is 85% of Michigan's Health and Human Services (HHS) budget
And as noted in the Detroit News article, Medicaid is 27.9% of Michigan's entire budget!
In addition,a Medicaid expansion in Michigan could add up to 500,000 more people to the rolls. And make Michigan an attractive welfare state to move to.
We MUST ask where is the money coming from? Taxpayers
A large measure of the Federal government's fiscal cliff is due to the burden of keeping entitlement programs like this afloat. To continue do so will once again fall on the backs of Michigan taxpayers.
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* ACTION ITEM *
Call/Fax Gov. Snyder
Tell the Governor:
"We oppose the Expansion of Medicaid in Michigan"
PHONE: (517) 335-7858 - Constituent Services
FAX:(517) 335-6863
Contact information for Gov Snyder Executive Staff may be found HERE
INFORMATION FROM OUR LAST ARTICLE ON THE MEDICAID EXPANSION
Medicaid Expansion WE OPPOSE
A bill, Senate Bill 0041 has been introduced to stop the expansion of Medicaid in Michigan WE SUPPORT THIS BILL
Medicaid is a federal entitlement program created under Democrat President Lydon Johnson's "Great Society" a major implementation of Liberal polices (Progressivism) in the United States.
States provide up to half of the funding for the Medicaid program and Medicaid is VOLUNTARY for the states.
In Michigan,according to the governor's budget, Medicaid is 85% of the HHS budget! According to Economics 21 organization, a nonpartisan organization dedicated to economic research, in a three part article, "Next Four Years of Fiscal Conservatism: What Must Be Done to Sustain the Nation" James Capretta writes about the urgent need for health and entitlement reforms:
"At the heart of the nation's fiscal challenges are the rising costs of the major health care entitlement programs -- Medicare, Medicaid, and the new subsidies provided by the 2010 health care law. In 1972, total federal spending on Medicare and Medicaid was just 1.1 percent of GDP. By 2010, the costs of these programs had risen to 5.5 percent of GDP, and CBO projections from last year show the costs rising to 9.1 percent in 2030 when the new entitlement spending from Obamacare is also added in and when plausible assumptions about on-going enforcement of arbitrary cost-cutting measures are used."
According to the Kaiser Health Foundation Medicaid and CHIP stats
Michigan has 20% of her total population enrolled in Medicaid (2009)
Michigan's Medicaid spending from 1990 -2010 has increased 8% ranking her as 23rd in the nation for Medicaid spending. In contrast our Midwestern neighbors Indiana has increased 5% and Illinois 6.6%
The state of Michigan spend $3,153,326,988 (2010) compared to $1,454,600,107 in Indiana and was the 9th highest in the country
Michigan took NO pro-active containment actions for eligibility requirements BEFORE Affordable Care Act (ACA) regulations became law (Maintenance of eligibility requirements enacted as part of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) prohibit states from imposing eligibility and enrollment standards for Medicaid and CHIP that are more restrictive than those that were in place at the time the ACA was passed (March 23, 2010)
Michigan has taken NO Medicaid Cost Containment Actions in 2012 or 2013 in areas where they could, such as LTC: Cost containment initiatives for long term care services. In Pharmacy Cost Containment Actions, Michigan has only implemented three of seven possible containment's
Illinois plans to cut some provider rates (including inpatient hospitals and nursing homes) on average by 2.7 percent for fiscal year 2013 as part of its Medicaid reform plan which (including all components of the plan) is designed to save $1.6 billion. Physicians and dentists are exempted from these cuts as are safety net hospitals
In conclusion not only should Michigan taxpayers oppose the expansion of Medicaid we need to demand reforms in every area with the eventual goal of opting out of this Federal entitlement voluntary program!
