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GOVERNORS BUSH &
MANCHIN JOIN MEDICAID COMMISSION
Govs. Jeb Bush (R-Fla.)
and Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) have agreed to participate in the
HHS
Medicaid Commission, which finishes a two-day meeting today.
Previously, members of the National Governors Association and
Congress declined to participate in the process, but HHS Secretary
Leavitt left open two positions on the commission for governors
and eight nonvoting seats for federal lawmakers. NGA had said it
would not participate in the commission because it has offered its
own recommendations to the White House and Congress on how to
reform Medicaid. Congressional members decided not to participate
because of their nonvoting roles. The commission issued a
report in September and plans to release a set of long-term
Medicaid reform recommendations by Dec. 31, 2006.
The second report
will address the following issues:
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Eligibility,
benefits design and delivery;
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Expanding the
number of people covered with quality care while recognizing
budget constraints;
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Long-term care;
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Quality of care,
choice, and beneficiary satisfaction; and
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Program
administration
Perhaps coincidentally,
Gov. Manchin has a Medicaid proposal currently being reviewed by
CMS. Also of note, Gov. Bush had recently rolled out his new
sweeping Medicaid plan that CMS approved for Florida that limits
spending for many of the 2.2 million beneficiaries there and gives
private health plans new freedom to limit benefits. The Florida
program, likely to be a model for many other states, shifts from
the traditional Medicaid "defined benefit" plan to a "defined
contribution" plan, under which the state sets a ceiling on
spending for each recipient. Children under the age of 21 and
pregnant women will be exempt from the limits. The Florida plan
says, "The state will set aside a specific amount of money for
each person enrolled in Medicaid," based on the person's medical
condition and historic use of health care.
Click Here for a copy of the HHS Press Release.
GOV SIGNS SDMC, GUARDIANSHIP & SSI BILLS
·
S.
2751-A by Senator Morahan, which provides that a patient may
continue to receive surrogate decision-making regardless of a
change in residential status, became Chapter 715 of 2005.
·
S.
5323 by Senator Hannon, which grants guardians of developmentally
disabled persons the same amount of decision-making authority
granted to guardians of mentally retarded persons, became Chapter
744 of 2005.
·
S.
5757, by Senator Golden, which increases the standards of monthly
need and increases the mandatory minimum state supplementation of
federal supplemental security income benefits, became Chapter 713
of 2005.
OPTS UPDATE ON NYSACRA WEBSITE
The latest
update from OMR on OPTS has been posted on the NYSACRA website.
Please visit www.nysacra.org. |
