Medicaid cuts, past and proposed, a concern to businesses and patient advocates

Kansas Health Institute: "The Kansas Hospital Association will throw its lobbying clout behind a proposed increase in the state tobacco tax to restore a cut in the Medicaid rates paid to providers" (McLean, 2/3).

Chattanooga Times Free Press: Tennessee "hospitals could lose a half billion dollars under the cumulative effect of Gov. Phil Bredesen's proposed TennCare cuts, the president of the Tennessee Hospital Association said today." The state legislature cut the state portion of the program by $170 million last year, and the Bredesen is proposing another $200 million in cuts this year. The state would also loose federal matching funds because of the cuts (Sher, 2/4).

State House News Service/Cambridge Chronicle: "Gov. Deval Patrick's proposed $56 million cut to state-funded adult dental benefits undermines the health care reform movement launched in 2006, activists and lawmakers said Wednesday morning." Critics said the cuts would result in costs 2.5 times higher than continuing the dental benefits because of lost federal match funds (Norton, 2/3).

BusinessWeek: "Calling on Connecticut politicians to stop the partisan bickering and work together to address the state's fiscal crisis, Gov. M. Jodi Rell unveiled a revised budget on Wednesday that does not raise taxes or fees." However, the budget has caused concerns because of plans to raise some Medicaid copays by up to $3 and reduce coverage (Haigh, 2/3).

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This article was reprinted from khn.org with permission from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. Kaiser Health News, an editorially independent news service, is a program of the Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonpartisan health care policy research organization unaffiliated with Kaiser Permanente.