The Honorable Todd RokitaUnited States House ofRepresentatives236 Cannon House Office BuildingWashington, DC 20515
Dear Representative Rokita:
On behalfof the 362,000 members of the National Taxpayers Union (NTU), I write insupport of H.R. 4160, your “State Health Flexibility Act.” By providing stateswith block grant funding for Medicaid and the State Children’s Health InsuranceProgram, this legislation would save more than a trillion taxpayer dollars whilegiving states the authority and flexibility to address the specific needs oftheir citizens.
State and federal Medicaid spendingcombined to total $400 billion in 2010 and the cost is expected to climb ashigh as $500 billion in the near future. Though the program is already abudget-buster in many states, enrollment is expected to swell by as many as 25million nationwide due to mandates in the 2010 health care law. This will addfurther strain to a program that already receives more funding on the statelevel than any other – even more than education according to the NationalAssociation of State Budget Officers.
Medicaid’s rigid and imposingstructure will continue to weigh down state budgets unless we take bold actionto reform it. Currently, 40 percent of doctors won’t treat Medicaid patientsdue to slow and inadequate reimbursements. On top of that, doctors, patients,and states have to wrestle with dense layers of bureaucratic red tape, makingthe system at once difficult to navigate and prone to waste, fraud, and abuse. In2010 alone, Medicaid paid $22.5 billion in improper claims. This leads to poorquality of care for patients and poor value for taxpayers from a programintended to aid society’s most vulnerable.
H.R. 4160 can help to reduceaccounting uncertainty and, by maintaining level funding for the next ten years,reduce future burdens on taxpayers by $1.8 trillion. It can also help toreverse current incentives to boost spending by encouraging states to seekinnovative solutions that can improve patient care and ultimately save money. Amore efficient Medicaid system will allow states to better address prioritieslike tax reduction, rainy day funds, transportation, or other state-specificneeds.
H.R. 4160 is an important step towardreal entitlement reform, one that can begin to put Medicaid on a sustainabletrajectory into the future. NTU urges all Representatives to cosponsor yourbill and to work toward its enactment in this Congress.
Sincerely,
Nan SwiftFederal AffairsManager