GRANHOLM - Granholm to Congress: Preserve Medicaid, Maintain Safety Net for Michigan's Citizens

LANSING – Governor Jennifer M. Granholm has expressed “deep disappointment” with proposed federal Medicaid cuts and urged Michigan congressional members to protect the state’s most vulnerable citizens.

In a letter written to Michigan’s congressional delegation, Granholm said states “are caught between providing health care for grandparents and education for grandchildren, and it is utterly unbearable. A vote for Medicaid cuts is a vote against care for some of our most vulnerable citizens.”

Although the U.S. Senate acted last month to preserve the federal/state health care partnership, the House of Representatives has approved billions of dollars in budget cuts to the critical health care program. The House and Senate are beginning the budget resolution conference process in the coming days.

“I am very worried that any cuts to Medicaid will further erode our health care safety net that nearly 1.4 million Michiganians depend on,” Granholm said. “Cutting Medicaid simply creates more uninsured, limits access to health care, reduces reimbursements for doctors and hospitals, and raises insurance rates for businesses.

“Governors – both Democrats and Republicans alike – have been steadfast in opposition to Medicaid cuts, caps, and further cost shifts to states,” said Granholm, who serves as chair of the National Governors Association’s Health and Human Services Committee, a bipartisan group of governors working to craft Medicaid and health care reform. “We all are united in our desire to craft real reform in Medicaid – but we want to improve the program, not undermine it.”

For its part, Michigan has been able to maintain Medicaid services for more than 1.4 million citizens, despite facing massive budget deficits. Last year, Michigan spent roughly $7.5 billion on its Medicaid program.

In 2004, Michigan’s Medicaid program paid for 70 percent of all nursing home care in the state, more than 40,000 births – or 40 percent of the total number of births in the state – and provided health care services for one out of every seven people. Approximately 85 percent of Michigan’s Medicaid dollars cover services for senior citizens, disabled persons, and children.

Under the Granholm Administration, Michigan has worked to control Medicaid costs by using innovative partnerships to keep prescription drug costs low, moving to more home and community-based care, and holding down payment rates to providers. Per capita growth rates for Michigan Medicaid are much lower than both Medicare and the private sector. The growth in spending per Medicaid beneficiary last year in Michigan was a slight 1.5 percent, even though nationwide, healthcare costs continued to skyrocket.

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