A section by section analysis from the House Rules Committee can be also downloaded.

Families USA has been tracking the entire budget debate since May. If you’re interested in learning more about previously proposed plans and how it would have affected Medicare & Medicaid, take a look.

OMO has signed onto a letter in support of increased payment rates for Medicaid. Medicaid payment rates are currently much lower than Medicare payment rates, and the gap continues to widen. As a result, more and more health care providers are declining participation in Medicaid. The House health reform bill contains a provision (s.1721) that would “increase the payment rate for primary care service codes over three years so that they equal the Medicare payment rates for those services.”

However, the Senate version does not have this provision, and the White House did not budget for it. Unless we speak up immediately and contact our legislators, it is likely that this provision will not make it into final health reform bill.  Please make your voices heard by contacting your Senators and Representatives and by signing onto letters like the one below.

From the HIV Medical Association…

Dear Majority Leader Reid, Speaker Pelosi and Chairmen Rangel, Waxman, Miller, Baucus, Dodd and Harkin:

As you craft the final health care reform bill, the undersigned organizations urge you to ensure meaningful access to care under the proposed Medicaid expansion by adopting the House provision to bring Medicaid reimbursement rates for primary care in line with comparable Medicare rates within four years.

While we strongly support expanding Medicaid to extend health coverage to low income individuals, we are very concerned that failure to address reimbursement disparities will weaken an already fragile network of Medicaid providers at a time when the demand for their services will be growing.

Medicaid rates average just 66% of Medicare rates for primary care services and are woefully inadequate to cover the cost of providing care.  According to the Congressional Budget Office, the planned expansion will increase enrollment in Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program by as many as 15 million beneficiaries.  Those who rely on Medicaid to meet their health care needs include millions of low-income women, children, minorities and individuals with disabilities.   The inadequacy of Medicaid reimbursement levels must be addressed in conjunction with the Medicaid expansion or we risk leaving our poorest and most medically-vulnerable residents behind despite the remarkable promise offered by health reform.

Please give high priority to ensuring access to care for Medicaid beneficiaries by adopting the House provision to adjust Medicaid payments for primary care to at least 100 percent of Medicare rates.

Thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely,

American Academy of Family Physicians
American College of Physicians
Doctors for America
HIV Medicine Association
The National Association of Public Hospitals and Health Systems
Out of Many, One

To sign onto this letter, please click here: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/MedicaidHCR . Please sign on by Tuesday (1/12) Noon ET.

Thanks to the National Health Law Program (www.healthlaw.org) for alerting us.

NEW REPORT EXPOSES RACIAL AND ETHNIC DISPARITIES IN CHILDREN’S HEALTH CARE

Today, a new report has found that racial and ethnic disparities in children’s healthcare are “extensive, pervasive, and persistent.” In addition to identifying the leading children’s health disparities, the report also provides recommendations on how to eliminate them. First Focus, the bipartisan children’s advocacy organization who commissioned the report, pointed to its findings as evidence that health reform should include a strengthening of Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP).     “Access to quality healthcare is a right deserved by all children, regardless of race,” said Bruce Lesley, President of First Focus,. “Addressing health disparities for children requires several affirmative steps, many of which were included in the recent renewal of the Children’s Health Insurance Program. This report underscores the need to build upon the success of Medicaid and CHIP, which disproportionately enroll minority children and have been proven to reduce health disparities. Reform cannot leave those children worse off. Instead, Congress must ensure that the new system addresses racial and ethnic disparities in a manner that meets or exceeds that of Medicaid and CHIP.”   The report finds that children have ethnic and racial disparities across the health care spectrum, including mortality, access to care and use of services, prevention and population health, adolescent health, chronic diseases, special healthcare needs, quality of care, and organ transplantation. Moreover, having health insurance coverage results in a significant reduction of unmet needs for medical care. Unfortunately, the report finds that Latino and African American children account for 57 percent of all uninsured young people in America, even though they only represent 37 percent of the total population of children.    Entitled “Achieving optimal Health and Healthcare for All Children: How We Can Eliminate Racial and Ethnic Disparities in Children’s Health and Healthcare,” the report was authored by Glenn Flores, M.D., Director of the Division of General Pediatrics, Professor of Pediatrics and Public Health, and the Judith and Charles Ginsburg Chair in Pediatrics at the University of Texas Southwestern and Children’s Medical Center Dallas. To reduce differences in rates of health insurance coverage and health disparities, Dr. Flores’ recommendations include: * The inclusion of the critically important aspects of Medicaid and CHIP that reduce health disparities as part of health reform. This includes consumer protections, language services, standards for access to care and cultural competency, comprehensive benefits, and limited or no cost sharing; * Automated enrollment, and automated renewal of health coverage, to reduce the number of uninsured children and health disparities; * Additional funding for outreach and enrollment of kids as well as the establishment of a Center for Children’s Benefit Outreach and Enrollment, just as there is for senior citizens and the disabled through Medicare; * Extending insurance coverage to all children, including both documented and undocumented immigrants; * Providing reimbursements for medical interpreter services in all insurance plans, as is found in Medicaid, CHIP, and Medicare; The report can be viewed at http://www.firstfocus.net/pages/3615.

###   First Focus is a bipartisan advocacy organization that is committed to making children and their families a priority in federal policy and budget decisions. To learn more visit www.firstfocus.net