Leavitt promotes Medicaid flexibility for states

Leavitt promotes Medicaid flexibility for states

Mental Health Weekly January 24, 2005

If confirmed, President Bush's choice for secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Michael O. Leavitt would work toward "greater flexibility" for states to manipulate Medicaid programs and trim benefits.

According to The New York Times, slowing the growth of Medicaid, the federal-state program for more than 50 million low-income Americans, is likely to be central to the administration's budget-cutting efforts this year.

Medicaid spending has grown 63 percent in the last five years.

"We can expand the number of people served with quality basic care by giving states additional flexibility," Leavitt told a Senate committee reviewing his nomination. Leavitt suggested that the health care program he devised as former governor of Utah might serve as an example for other states.

According to state officials, Utah's plan excluded hospitalization and specialty care, while negotiating with hospitals to provide free care to those people covered. Leavitt is currently the administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

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Last Updated on 01/26/05 webmaster@namiscc.org

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