MEDICAID'S HEALTH BENEFITS ON CHOPPING BLOCK - 53 Million Recipients Could Be Affected

(01/25/2005)

Medicaid, the nation's health care program for the poor, appears headed for the chopping block as the Bush administration is looking for ways to cut the federal deficit. Federal and state governments now spend almost $300 billion annually on Medicaid. But Bush hopes to cut federal spending on Medicaid by $24 billion over the next decade. Thousands of West Virginians could face drastic cuts if the funding were to change from a guaranteed entitlement to a limited grant. The Bush administration is proposing to put a lid on federal Medicaid spending. Medicaid funds about 17 percent of U.S. spending on hospital care. Hospitals could be in for more pain. They are already part of a delivery system that has left hospitals caring for throngs of uninsured patients. Another 45 to 50 million Americans have no health insurance. Medicaid serves about 53 million people. It pays for nearly half of all nursing home care in the United States. It pays health-care costs of one in four U.S. children and more than 40 percent of the cost of caring for children in hospitals, according to Peter Wilson, vice president of the National Association of Children's Hospitals. It also pays for more than one-third of all births in the United States. "The big entitlements, including Medicaid, are on the table," said California Rep. George Radanovich (Republican). Medicaid, Social Security and Medicare have been considered the untouchables, but they are all being targeted for change. Medicare is being moved toward privatization. The Bush administration is moving ahead this year to overhaul Social Security, the biggest benefit program at more than $500 billion annually. Bush has asked GOP lawmakers to risk angering senior citizens worried about the retirement and pension program.

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