Opponents offer dire warnings about Medicaid block grant proposal

The plan advanced by Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., to transform this program has been the subject of much of the concern. However, another alternative, this one offered by Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., and based on "global cap" for federal spending, is also getting negative reviews from Medicaid advocates.

NPR: Plan Would Trade Medicaid Funds For Flexibility
Most of the debate about the budget plan passed by House Republicans last month centers on the dramatic changes it would make to the Medicare health program for seniors. But the proposal calls for potentially even bigger changes to the Medicaid program for the poor (Rovner, 5/5).

Kaiser Health News: Democrats, Advocacy Groups Campaign Against Medicaid Block Grants
Kaiser Health News staff writer Shefali Kulkarni reports: "In the continuing Democratic assault on the House GOP's 2012 budget bill, a group of senators today warned of dire consequences on the plan to transform Medicaid into a block grant program" (Kulkarni, 5/4).

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: DeKalb, Fulton Commissioners Decry Block Grant Proposal For Medicaid
Commissioners from DeKalb and Fulton counties joined with leaders from across the country Wednesday to protest proposed changes to Medicaid they say could leave poor Atlanta families without health insurance. A plan to turn Medicaid into a block grant program would shift costs to the counties, DeKalb Commissioner Lee May said at an event in Washington. Joining May were DeKalb Commissioner Sharon Barnes Sutton and Fulton County Commission Chairman John Eaves (Williams, 5/4).

Meanwhile —

The Hill: Rockefeller: McCaskill Budget Plan Worse Than Ryan's For Medicaid
Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) said Wednesday that a fellow Democrat's plan to tackle federal spending would be even worse for Medicaid than House Republicans' "heartless" proposals for the program. House Republicans' fiscal 2012 budget would convert federal Medicaid spending into block grants to states, which opponents say would ultimately lead the states to cut benefits or drop people from the program. The proposal is "almost beyond my moral understanding," Rockefeller said at a press conference (Baker, 5/4).