White House Vows to Pay for Evacuee Care

WASHINGTON – The Bush administration assured Texas officials on Thursday that it will pay the Medicaid expenses the state is incurring for low-income evacuees of Hurricane Katrina. The money will cover some people who previously were ineligible.

Any other state facing high bills from medical care of low-income evacuees can get the same deal, said Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt. He wrote governors on Thursday explaining how they can apply.

Evacuees who receive health care under Texas’ Medicaid program will not be charged co-payments under the temporary program, which will run through the end of January.

An estimated 200,000 evacuees from hurricane-ravaged Louisiana and Mississippi have registered in Texas, but there may be many more, said Dr. Mark McClellan, head of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

The overwhelming majority are believed to be qualified for Medicaid, the government’s insurance program for the poor.

The temporary program also offers coverage for evacuees who made too much money to qualify for Medicaid before the hurricane struck, but now do because they have lost jobs, homes and other assets, McClellan said.

They can register for coverage through Medicaid or the related State Children’s Health Insurance Program, or SCHIP, without the traditional income checks and other required paperwork.

Medicaid does not normally cover childless adults. But the temporary program creates a special pool to reimburse physicians and hospitals for the cost of treating those evacuees if they have no private insurance or other way to pay.

“Texas is made whole for their cost of caring for evacuees,” McClellan said.

The coverage also would include mental health care, Leavitt said.

Senators have introduced legislation, expected to cost between $5 billion and $7 billion, to speed health care for evacuees. The measurer included some of the provisions announced Thursday.

Asked if legislation was no longer needed, McClellan said, “Texas’ own view is this approach is meeting their needs.”

Louisiana and Mississippi are beneficiaries, Leavitt added, because without this waiver, Texas could have billed them for the cost of caring for their citizens.