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American Public Health Association Urges House to Oppose Cuts in Medicaid Funding and Debilitating Higher Co-Payments

Posted on: Thursday, 26 January 2006, 15:00 CST

WASHINGTON, Jan. 26 /U.S. Newswire/ -- The following is a statement from Georges C. Benjamin, executive director of the American Public Health Association on Medicaid funding:

"The American Public Health Association (APHA) today urges members of the U.S. House of Representatives to vote next week against the conference report of the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005, which threatens to cut approximately $5 billion from the invaluable Medicaid program. The conference report includes harmful provisions that would imperil the health status and coverage of millions of Americans who depend on Medicaid to meet their basic health needs.

"These harmful cuts deliver a crippling blow to our nation's most vulnerable residents. Provisions in the conference report, if enacted into law, would strip low-income children of the guarantee to Medicaid-covered services that fall under the Early and Periodic Screening, Diagnostic, and Treatment (EPSDT) program, increase demand for care provided in emergency rooms and cause current program beneficiaries to become uninsured. We face serious repercussions from such a shift in health coverage, and we cannot support a plan that undercuts the public's health.

"We are especially concerned with the report provisions that would allow states to charge premiums and higher co-payments in their Medicaid programs in order to achieve targeted cost savings. Savings resulting from this provision will not be from the actual collection of co-payments and premiums, but from individuals foregoing needed medical care because they cannot afford it. Moreover, if the Deficit Reduction Act is enacted into law, it would permit states to provide less comprehensive 'alternative benefit packages' to Medicaid enrollees, causing millions of beneficiaries to face a more restricted coverage package. This provision would jeopardize the access of children to essential periodic screening, vision, dental, hearing and mental health services, and low-income women to vital reproductive health services.

"We are also opposed to the provision in the conference report that would require all citizens applying or reapplying for Medicaid to produce a passport or birth certificate to prove they are U.S. citizens. This provision will put the health coverage of millions of Medicaid beneficiaries at risk, considering that about 1.7 million adult citizens and 1.4 million to 2.9 million children on Medicaid do not have a passport or birth certificate available at home. This provision is likely to disproportionately affect elderly African Americans and individuals living in rural areas who may not have been born in hospitals.

"We encourage House members to vote to protect the health of millions of individuals and families by ensuring them access to primary and preventive health services that they may not be able to obtain otherwise without Medicaid coverage. We urge the House to move to ensure the well-being of millions of our nation's residents and vote against the conference report of the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 on February 1."

Founded in 1872, the APHA is the oldest, largest and most diverse organization of public health professionals in the world. The association aims to protect all Americans and their communities from preventable, serious health threats and strives to assure community- based health promotion and disease prevention activities and preventive health services are universally accessible in the United States. APHA represents a broad array of health providers, educators, environmentalists, policy-makers and health officials at all levels working both within and outside governmental organizations and educational institutions. More information is available at http://www.apha.org.

http://www.usnewswire.com

Source: U.S. Newswire

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