Friday, April 29, 2005
DeLay: "The Medicaid system is antiquated"
[Mary Dalrymple, "Congress OKs $2.6 trillion budget," Associated Press, The Lawrence Journal-World, 29 April 2005.]
Congressional leaders are looking to trim Medicaid spending and create a more sustainable program. The question now is whether the result will be true reform or simply cuts:
Congress narrowly passed a $2.6 trillion budget Thursday that would cut spending on the Medicaid health care program for the first time since 1997 in a step toward trimming federal deficits.
House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas, said it was time to look closely at benefit programs that were "popular but rife with waste."
"These entitlement programs deserve reform," he said. "The Medicaid system is antiquated and the quality of care is not being brought to the people that need it."
Medicaid gets marked for a $10 billion reduction over four years. The changes in Medicaid wouldn't begin until 2007, giving a special commission and the nation's governors time to recommend cost-saving ideas.
What Medicaid needs is not another "special commission." Let's hope the states take the initiative to initiate change before Congress gets around to it.
[Matthew Hisrich, "Kansas Needs Bold Medicaid Reform," The Wichita Eagle, 21 January 2004.]
[Mary Dalrymple, "Congress OKs $2.6 trillion budget," Associated Press, The Lawrence Journal-World, 29 April 2005.]
Congressional leaders are looking to trim Medicaid spending and create a more sustainable program. The question now is whether the result will be true reform or simply cuts:
Congress narrowly passed a $2.6 trillion budget Thursday that would cut spending on the Medicaid health care program for the first time since 1997 in a step toward trimming federal deficits.
House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas, said it was time to look closely at benefit programs that were "popular but rife with waste."
"These entitlement programs deserve reform," he said. "The Medicaid system is antiquated and the quality of care is not being brought to the people that need it."
Medicaid gets marked for a $10 billion reduction over four years. The changes in Medicaid wouldn't begin until 2007, giving a special commission and the nation's governors time to recommend cost-saving ideas.
What Medicaid needs is not another "special commission." Let's hope the states take the initiative to initiate change before Congress gets around to it.
[Matthew Hisrich, "Kansas Needs Bold Medicaid Reform," The Wichita Eagle, 21 January 2004.]
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