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Posted on 01/12/2005 4:56:59 AM PST by The Teen Conservative
TALLAHASSEE -- Calling it a "broken system" that is straining the state budget, Gov. Jeb Bush on Tuesday proposed a massive overhaul of Florida's Medicaid program to make it more like private health insurance.
The proposal, which will be a key issue during this spring's legislative session, would lead to hundreds of thousands of low-income people receiving medical care through health-maintenance organizations, insurance companies and other private organizations.
Medicaid patients would be able to choose from different health plans, with the state paying their premiums. Bush said the proposal would help control spending on the program, which has soared in recent years to about a quarter of the state budget.
"We have to try something different," Bush said during a news conference in the Capitol.
The proposal, however, could touch off a political fight as some Democratic lawmakers and advocates for low-income people fear such an overhaul would cut health services to the poor. Senate Minority Leader Les Miller, D-Tampa, said he wants to make sure "we don't go in with a meat cleaver and start cutting programs."
"We've got to make sure the people who need this the most aren't hurt -- and that's my objective," Miller said.
Miller and others said Bush's proposal did not include enough details to fully understand its effects. Halifax Medical Center in Daytona Beach released a statement calling Bush's proposed changes "profound" but said key questions remain unanswered.
"The bottom line is, until you see what's in the legislation, it's going to be impossible to tell what this means," said John E. Evans, a spokesman for Halifax, a publicly funded hospital that plays a key role in providing health care to low-income people in Volusia County.
With costs growing to about $14 billion this year, Medicaid has bedeviled Bush and lawmakers during the past few years as they have tried to balance tight budgets and avoid raising taxes. That has led to controversial ideas, such as an aborted effort in 2003 to cut funding for the Medically Needy program, which serves people with debilitating illnesses.
Medicaid serves about 2.2 million people in Florida, ranging from children to nursing-home residents. The federal and state governments share the cost of the program and determine what services will be provided and how much doctors, hospitals and nursing homes will be paid.
Bush has long expressed frustration with the program and sought more flexibility in managing it. The proposal released Tuesday takes a free-market approach that, in some ways, is similar to how his brother, President George W. Bush, has sought to change the national health-care system.
For example, the president pushed through a prescription-drug plan for Medicare recipients that gives a wide range of choices about how to use the benefit. Jeb Bush said Tuesday that a key part of his Medicaid proposal is allowing patients to choose between health plans that would offer different services.
Under the proposal, the state would set aside a certain amount of money each year for Medicaid. It would then pay premiums to HMOs, insurers and other groups to manage care, with the premiums based on patients' medical backgrounds and risks.
Bush said the proposal would help save money for the state because it would provide "certainty" about the costs.
The proposal would need approvals from the federal government and the Legislature, making it unclear how much the state could save during the fiscal year that starts in July. Bush is expected to release his proposed 2005-06 budget next week, and he said the Medicaid portion is a "work in progress."
House Speaker Allan Bense, R-Panama City, praised Bush's proposal and warned that the state would be "forced to drastically restrict eligibility and services" if Medicaid is not overhauled.
Bush's announcement came a day after Tennessee's governor said rising costs would force that state to drop 323,000 adults from its Medicaid program.
"Something has to change," Bense said. "Costs are spiraling out of control."
But Karen Woodall, who lobbies for low-income people on health and social issues, questioned whether shifting Medicaid into the private market would help save money. She said private health-insurance costs also have skyrocketed in recent years.
Of course, here in my town (Gainesville), voters approved a special tax to provide healthcare for low-income persons. It passed by a margin of 89 votes, simply because it was run past the voters at the same time as the primary, and only Dems were running in the primary. Hence the Dem voters saddled us here in already overtaxed Alachua County with another tax for another social program (and it's not even clear who is going to benefit from this one).
The many Medicare scam doctors, scooter stores, etc. no doubt gave big bucks to the campaigns of their fellow scam artists, the Democrats. You and I pay for every Medicare/Medicaid fraud who lives in luxury, while we struggle to pay our own insurance premiums.
The many Medicare scam doctors, scooter stores, etc. no doubt gave big bucks to the campaigns of their fellow scam artists, the Democrats. You and I pay for every Medicare/Medicaid fraud who lives in luxury, while we struggle to pay our own insurance premiums.- kitty
IMO, the majority of the "poor" ought to get off their lazy asses and find something constructive to do. There are plenty of ditches needing to be dug, and floors to be mopped.
One of the most successful men I know, is a black fellow in NC. He started a window-washing service back in the 70;s, after getting out of the Marines. He did good work, cheap. The retail stores love him, because they all hated to do windows. He hired some people, mostly single black women, with chiildren, and gave them decent wages. He expanded into cleaning bathrooms. It's nasty work, and he gets paid well... He does not offer insurance to his employees. He does give them a job!
I pay my own bills, and do not have health insurance. I use the VA facility in Martinsburg, WV, to defer some of my costs (thank you), since I am a Veteran of the Viet Nam WAR. I have a wife and daughter, at home, and our medical/dental bills get paid, somehow!
It always intrigues me to see how many conservatives feel that they must have insurance, when all they really need to do is keep out of debt, and live well!
Insurance is collectivism... with good intentions at the outset, and avarice at its base...
Overhaul translation means..."Stop handing out tax dollars"...
Go Jeb! And may I suggest one way to save money is to get Terri Schiavo out of hospice (where she has never belonged in the first place) and home with her parents!
Bump!
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