According to Alaska’s Medicaid website, “Medicaid is an ‘entitlement program’ created by the federal government, but administered by the state, to provide payment for medical services for low-income citizens. People qualify for Medicaid by meeting federal income and asset standards…” True, but this is kind of a dry and lifeless statement. It does not convey the enormity of Medicaid in Alaska. In fact, Medicaid is the largest public or private health insurer in the State of Alaska. Nearly one of every four Alaskans is insured by Medicaid. One of every two babies born in Alaska is born with the assistance of Medicaid. So, it is with great alarm that we read the following…

As the White House takes aim to reduce Medicaid payments to hospitals and nursing homes, governors and members of Congress from both parties are preparing to fight against the planned cuts. Medicaid helps 50 million low-income people pay for health care through funding from both the federal government and the states, and seniors in nursing homes are the greatest number of Medicaid beneficiaries. However, the White House plan would weaken Medicaid by reducing the federal government’s payments to many public hospitals and nursing homes and limit the states’ ability to finance Medicaid through taxing health care providers. The loss of Medicaid funding from the federal government would put pressure on states not only to reduce Medicaid benefits, but also to restrict eligibility and lower payments to health care providers, according to The New York Times. At the same time, the number of doctors who refuse to take new Medicaid patients is on the rise. A study by the Center for Studying Health System Change found that the percentage of physicians not accepting new Medicaid patients has risen from 19.5 to 21 percent over the past few years in large practices, and from 16.2 to 24 percent in small group practices. Medicaid’s reimbursement rate was considered the main reason that more doctors refuse to see new Medicaid patients. “The Bush administration claims they need to reform Medicaid,” said Edward Coyle, Executive Director of the Alliance. “I guess their idea of ‘reform’ is jeopardizing the lives of low-income seniors and making it more difficult for Medicaid patients to see a doctor. Congress already rejected these Medicaid cuts, anyway.” [Friday Alert, August 18, 2006, Alliance for Retired Americans]

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