House Subcommittee Chair Discusses Potential Savings in Medicaid, USA

Main Category: Medicare / Medicaid / SCHIP
Article Date: 27 May 2005 - 10:00 PDT

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House Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee Chair Nathan Deal (R-Ga.) on Wednesday said that the $10 billion in reconciliation savings designated for his subcommittee probably would not come solely from Medicaid, CQ HealthBeat reports (CQ HealthBeat, 5/25). Deal said "personal responsibility" would be the focus of changes to Medicaid, adding that changes could include having more copayments for services, discouraging emergency department use for routine ailments and tightening regulations for asset transfers that allow people to become eligible for Medicaid-funded nursing home care. In addition, Deal indicated that he expects Congress to address Medicare's provider reimbursement levels, but probably not as part of the reconciliation process. He added that many in Congress are opposed to making changes to the 2003 Medicare law as the prescription drug benefit is being implemented to avoid "having someone rock the boat before it even gets in the water" (Rovner, CongressDaily, 5/25). Deal also said he favored greater funding for community health settings and "Good Samaritan" liability changes that would make it easier for doctors to provide care at no cost without concerns about lawsuits. Deal said the National Governors Association proposal expected in early June on Medicaid reform will be "a tremendous step in the right direction if we want to make some changes" (CQ HealthBeat, 5/25). Deal said an outline of the subcommittee proposal will be finished in several weeks (CongressDaily, 5/25).

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