In President Obama’s new deficit reduction plan, he makes the following promise:
“Most importantly, we can make modest adjustments to strengthen Medicare and Medicaid in a way that does not undermine the fundamental compact they represent to our Nation’s seniors, children, people with disabilities, and low-income families. The Administration’s proposals will save approximately $320 billion over the next decade. As these reforms save money, they also will strengthen these vital programs so that they are robust and healthy to serve Americans for years to come.”
Saving money through modest adjustments while strengthening vital programs—sounds like a perfect vision for the future of government health care. But will this actually be the case for the beleaguered, but extremely necessary, Medicaid program?
Obama proposes to save $66 billion from Medicaid by taking the following actions: “limit State financing practices that increase Federal spending, replace complicated matching formulas with a single matching rate specific to each State, and strengthen Medicaid program integrity.”
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