Posted on 10/05/2009 6:30:11 AM PDT by La Lydia
The nation's governors are emerging as a formidable lobbying force as health-care reform moves through Congress and states overburdened by the recession brace for the daunting prospect of providing coverage to millions of low-income residents. The legislation the Senate Finance Committee is expected to approve calls for the biggest expansion of Medicaid since its creation in 1965. Under the Senate bill and the House proposal, a state-federal insurance program targeted mainly at children, pregnant women and disabled people would effectively become a Medicare for the poor, a health-care safety net for all people with an annual income below $14,404.
Whether Medicaid can absorb a huge influx of beneficiaries is a matter of grave concern to many governors...
"I can't think of a worse time for this bill to be coming," said Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen (D)... "I'd love to see it happen. But nobody's going to put their state into bankruptcy or their education system in the tank for it."...
Lawmakers are wary about imposing a huge new burden on an imperfect program that serves one of the most challenging segments of the population...Among the 11 million people the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimates will sign up for Medicaid under the new rules, many are single adults and parents who have gone for years without health coverage....
...congressional Democrats are sufficiently alarmed about the potential impact that they already are seeking special protections for their states.
Even Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid cut a deal with Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (Mont.) to ensure that the federal government would pay the full cost of expanding Medicaid in Reid's state, Nevada.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
no one is without healthcare in this country....most county hospitals take up the slack ....i pay a hosp tax here
Yes. And your hospital tax is probably double what it should be because of that unfunded federal mandate.
you bet it is right along with my school tax
Your school tax is set by federal mandate, not the state or city you live in?
no its set by state and city to fulfill mandates....all the more reason to pay attention to local and state elections.
except Reid’s Nevada.....that sounds good...what makes him exempt
I think we are talking about two different things. An unfunded federal mandate is a federal law that requires state, localities or individuals to spend money for a specific purpose, but does not supply any money (funds) for that purpose. There is a federal law saying that hospital emergency rooms have to take in, for instance, illegal aliens, but there is no federal funding to pay for the care that the feds have mandated. I don’t know of any federal mandate regarding a specific expenditure by public schools. Are you saying that your state imposes an unfunded mandate on your local schools, without supplying the funds?
not sure....remember states fighting fed mandates in schools so thought they had them....our scholl tax is huge and i expect thats what will happen with health care
I don’t know where you live, but where I live, the schools are also supplying free breakfast and lunch to a large number of the kids. That tends to drive up the costs of an “education,” and drives up taxes.
FOR SURE! And, the bonds floated...costly additions to your property taxes.
yes free carb food to kids that need brain food then they complain about childhood obesity....we have that...they put all the kids on it so they can get more grant money
in fact i wish they would spend more time teaching and less time looking for gov dollars
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