May 18, 2005

LEAVITT'S LOUSY LINE-UP

Leave it to Leavitt (to stack the panel, that is.)

HHS Secretary Michael Leavitt last week announced that he'll be appointing all of the members of a new commission to examine Medicaid and make recommendations for fast, big cuts to the program. Leavitt's Medicaid Commission bears no resemblance to the bipartisan blue-ribbon panel some in Congress hoped would take a non-ideological, thoughtful and comprehensive approach to the challenges faced by the Medicaid program.

Instead, Leavitt will appoint voting members that—as a basic qualification for appointment—will have to support at least $10 billion in cuts to Medicaid and a diminished federal role in financing and overseeing this vital health program.

More than 50 million Americans depend upon Medicaid for the health care they need to stay alive, including seniors in nursing homes, single parents struggling to make ends meet, persons with disabilities (including 55 percent of all Americans with HIV/AIDS) and chronic mental illness, pregnant women and poor children. Yet there is no role for such actual beneficiaries on this Commission—and no assurance that their multiple needs and challenges will even be considered.

As governor of Utah, Leavitt oversaw significant changes to Utah's Medicaid program, including exorbitant levels of cost sharing (the amount patients must pay personally for doctor visits or meds) and benefits packages lacking such basic services as inpatient hospital care. Leavitt trashed Medicaid in Utah—and now he's in charge of a new panel that could take those damaging initiatives nationwide.

This is a set up. The appointees will likely agree to slash Medicaid from the start.

This is a set-up. No commission, regardless of its make-up, can be expected to come up with a solid evaluation of the huge Medicaid program in less than four months, the deadline set by Leavitt. In this case, however, the appointees will likely agree to slash Medicaid from the start. The commission will include a bipartisan group of congresspersons, but their non-voting status on the panel reduces them to little more than bipartisan window dressing.

Most advocates won't acknowledge Leavitt's commission as credible, and they won't expect it to come up with many thoughtful ideas and recommendations for the Medicaid program. Instead, we'll wait for a fig leaf of justifications for at least $10 billion in Medicaid cuts for this year's budget, to be carried out over the next five years.

Instead of spending our time on the sham commission, Housing Works and other key Medicaid advocates will turn our attention and efforts to the bipartisan group of senators and House members on the key committees with jurisdiction over this program. At least each of them represents the actual people of a district or state, many of whom will be affected by the Medicaid decisions made this year. Next week, we'll tell you how you can be a part of this important effort.

The Housing Works AIDS Issues Update is reported, written and edited by Diana Scholl, David Thorpe, Christine Campbell, terri smith-caronia and Housing Works staff. Send your feedback, leads and story ideas to d.scholl@housingworks.org.

You can reach us by phone at 212-967-1500 x168, by fax at 212-868-4222, and by email at d.scholl@housingworks.org. Housing Works provides housing, advocacy and services to homeless people living with AIDS and HIV. Housing Works is the nation's largest community-based AIDS organization and the nation's largest minority-controlled AIDS organization.

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