Thursday, March 04, 2004

U.S. Medicaid Program Could Improve Financial Management
Reuters Health story at Medscape - "The joint state-federal Medicaid health program for the poor could take steps to better manage its finances without a radical change to the entire program, analysts said Tuesday. Tensions between the federal government, which pays just over 60 percent of total costs for the health insurance program for an estimated 44 million low-income women, children, elderly and disabled Americans, and the states, which pay the remaining 40 percent, have been rising in recent months. Last year, the federal government floated a proposal to review state Medicaid budgets in advance, giving them effective veto power over state mechanisms for providing their share of the funding. In January, the administration published a proposed rule change to require states to provide the data needed to implement the prospective review plan, giving states just 24 hours to comment. Governors cried foul, and after they appealed directly to President Bush during the governors' annual meeting in Washington last month, the proposal was temporarily withdrawn..." [Viewing Medscape resources requires registration, which is free].