A New York Times story elaborates on the idea that the Bush administration is trying to preserve Medicaid for families targeted by the program – low-income families – by preventing states from expanding it. An expansion may extend coverage to families who can afford to buy private health insurance.
President Bush twice vetoed a measure that would have expanded and funded the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) to the tune of $35 billion over five years. The administration, which placed restrictions on SCHIP’s expansion last August, is apparently applying the restrictions to Medicaid across the board, as negotiators in Louisiana, Ohio, and Oklahoma recently found out. An excerpt:
On Dec. 20, the Bush administration rejected a proposal by Ohio to expand its Medicaid program to cover 35,000 more children. Ohio now offers Medicaid to children with family incomes up to twice the poverty level, or about $41,000 a year for a family of four. The state had proposed increasing the limit to three times the poverty level, to about $62,000.
“Federal officials told us that they would apply the criteria set forth in the Aug. 17 letter to our proposal for expansion of Medicaid,†said Cristal A. Thomas, the Ohio Medicaid director.
Dennis G. Smith, the director of the federal Center for Medicaid and State Operations, confirmed that account.
Tony Fratto, a spokesman for the administration, told the Times: “We want states to focus on enrolling their neediest population before they consider expanding Medicaid and CHIP to middle-income families. This policy demonstrates the president’s compassion. He wants to direct scarce tax dollars to those with the greatest needs.”
