GOP’s Medicaid overhaul would punish Minnesota for providing health care to undocumented immigrants

WASHINGTON House Republicans have targeted blue states that provide healthcare care to undocumented immigrants by cutting Medicaid payments to those states in an effort to shrink the regime medical plan for the poor and disabled Measure issued by the House Strength and Commerce Committee late Sunday would cut the share the federal cabinet gives Minnesota and other states including California Illinois and New York from to because these states offer vitality care coverage to undocumented immigrants This cut in federal money and other new restrictions proposed by the panel as part of a mega-budget bill will likely force states like Minnesota to revamp how they fund the joint federal-state Medicaid effort or cut benefits Gov Tim Walz s office and the Minnesota Department of Human Services did not have an immediate response to the proposed cut in the federal matching rate for those who have been able to enroll in Anatomical Assistance through the Affordable Care Act s expansion of Medicaid The state s options include paring back eligibility reducing benefits ending coverage for undocumented immigrants or making up the loss with state funds I would hope Minnesota would implement the changes in a humane way mentioned Jonathan Watson CEO of Minnesota Area Vitality Centers He estimated the reduction in the federal matching rate would cost Minnesota more than million a year Wellness coverage of undocumented immigrants initiated in Minnesota on Jan through the MinnesotaCare undertaking has been criticized by state GOP lawmakers because it is funded solely with state funds Federal law prohibits the use of Medicaid dollars on coverage of undocumented immigrants The Ability and Commerce Committee was required to find billion in savings over years in the programs that come under its jurisdiction In its preliminary estimate the CBO determined that largest part of the savings would come from the panel s proposed changes to Medicaid which it noted would lower the federal authorities s spending on the campaign to million The change in the reimbursement rates is just one change the committee has proposed to Medicaid House Republicans say the changes would root out fraud waste and abuse from the campaign But the new restrictions on Medicaid proposed as part of President Donald Trump s big beautiful budget bill will aftermath in the loss of Medicaid coverage for millions of Americans even as a pushback from moderate GOP lawmakers pared back specific initial proposals This is the largest Medicaid cut ever declared Laura Mortenson spokeswoman for the Minnesota Budget Project Mortenson reported more details of the plan would be made community when the House Capacity and Commerce Committee marks up its bill Tuesday afternoon Democrats on the panel will try to reverse chosen of the changes but they are in the minority If the panel votes out the bill which is expected the decree would go to the full U S House for a vote as part of the budget bill Working for healthcare care About million Minnesotans or about of the state s population rely on Medicaid known in the state as Therapeutic Assistance for their physical condition care Democrats on Sunday circulated preliminary estimates by the Congressional Budget Office CBO that determined more than million people would go uninsured if the changes to Medicaid become law One big impact on beneficiaries is a new work requirement that supporters say would lift low-income individuals out of poverty by motivating them to get jobs The CBO has estimated that requiring beneficiaries to work or scrutiny for at least hours a month could save over billion over the next decade by excluding more people from Medicaid so the ruling body won t have to pay for their medications and care Yet the Kaiser Family Foundation has determined that most of Medicaid recipients are already working full- or part-time and others are exempted from the work requirement because they have caregiving responsibilities illnesses or disabilities or are attending school David Hilden an internal medicine expert at Hennepin Fitness explained the scant states that imposed work requirements on Medicaid recipients did not impact in an increase of employed beneficiaries It just did not work Hilden disclosed What did happen he announced is that a large number of recipients could not keep up with the paperwork that established they had a job were looking for work or were part of an exempted category All it did was make people lose their coverage Hilden disclosed So work requirements which Hilden called disastrous are expected to reduce the number of recipients So is another change which would require Medicaid beneficiaries who earn more than the federal poverty limit around for a single person to pay higher co-payments for clinician visits The bill would also increase paperwork requirements allowing states to check the income and residency of certain beneficiaries more often and ending coverage for those who don t respond promptly The measure was panned by healthcare groups and organizations that represent patients including the American Cancer Society which called the proposal catastrophic and alarming This is going to put locality healthcare centers in a more perilous situation Watson revealed He disclosed the state s area vitality centers receive about of their revenue from Medicaid The statute would also cut funding for groups that provide abortion services like Planned Parenthood and ban the use of Medicaid dollars for gender-affirming care for youth It would also reassess the way assets are determined to qualify patients for Medicaid-funded nursing home care and repeal Biden administration reforms for staffing at nursing homes The post GOP s Medicaid overhaul would punish Minnesota for providing wellness care to undocumented immigrants appeared first on MinnPost