Matt notes that an absurdly large proportion of the Republican Conference's waste-cutting ideas involve slicing big chunks out of Medicaid because, apparently, health care for the needy is waste. Yeah, yeah, par for the course. Unfortunately, the Republican majority clearly hasn't checked with Health and Human Services to figure out how they're providing the displaced with medical care. Hint: It's Medicaid:
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has acted to assure that the Medicare, Medicaid and State Children's Health Insurance Programs will flex to accommodate the emergency health care needs of beneficiaries and medical providers in the Hurricane Katrina devastated states.
Many of the programs' normal operating procedures will be relaxed to speed provision of health care services to the elderly, children and persons with disabilities who depend upon them.
Because of hurricane damage to local health care facilities, many beneficiaries have been evacuated to neighboring states where receiving hospitals and nursing homes have no health care records, information on current health status or even verification of the person's status as a Medicare or Medicaid beneficiary. CMS is assuring those facilities that in this circumstance the normal burden of documentation will be waived and that the presumption of eligibility should be made.
Or, to put it another way, we've got this from HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt:
Pursuant to Section 1135(b) of the Social Security Act (the Act) (42 U.S.C. ' 1320b-5), I hereby waive the following requirements of titles XVIII, XIX, or XXI of the Act or regulations thereunder, and the following requirements of Title XI of the Act, and regulations thereunder, insofar as they relate to Titles XVIII, XIX, or XXI of the Act, but in each case, only to the extent necessary to ensure that sufficient health care items and services are available to meet the needs of individuals enrolled in the Medicare, Medicaid and SCHIP programs and to ensure that health care providers that furnish such items and services in good faith, but are unable to comply with one or more of these requirements as a result of the effects of Hurricane Katrina, may be reimbursed for such items and services and exempted from sanctions for such noncompliance, absent any determination of fraud and abuse:
Said simply, hospitals who treat folks without insurance will now be reimbursed no matter the status of their patients under the assumption that they're all on Medicaid, Medicare, or SCHIP -- no proof required. So take three wild guesses on how they're going to categorize the rush of displaced, uninsured patients hitting their waiting rooms. The Republican response to this? A proposal to chop up the program that's providing the bulk of post-Katrina health care. What's not to love?
