February 2009 Archives

President Obama is hosting a summit on fiscal responsibility starting today. Health care costs are a big part of the entitlement problem.

Will the kind of health care reform that Democrats are considering help or hurt long-term fiscal responsibility? What are the keys to making health care costs less of a drain on the federal treasury?

-- Marilyn Werber Serafini, NationalJournal.com

22 responses: Marilyn Werber Serafini, David B. Kendall, Jack Lewin, Scott P. Serota, John Sheils, Nancy H. Nielsen, Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., Billy Tauzin, Marian Wright Edelman, Newt Gingrich, Marilyn Werber Serafini, Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., Stuart Butler, Karen Davis, Len Nichols, Marian Wright Edelman, Jason Rosenbaum, Janet Trautwein, C. Eugene Steuerle, John C. Goodman, Kerry Weems, David B. Kendall

How much impact will the economic stimulus package have on reducing the ranks of the newly uninsured?

• It includes $87 billion in federal money to help states with Medicaid.

• It subsidizes COBRA premiums at 65 percent for people who want to continue coverage from their previous employer.

• It does not temporarily open Medicaid to unemployed workers who lose their jobs.

What happens to those newly uninsured people who don't take COBRA or qualify for Medicaid?

-- Marilyn Werber Serafini, NationalJournal.com

13 responses: Jason Rosenbaum, Stuart Butler, Marian Wright Edelman, James P. Gelfand, Len Nichols, Darrell G. Kirch, John Sheils, Karen Davis, Uwe Reinhardt, Nancy H. Nielsen, Billy Tauzin, Newt Gingrich, Ron Pollack

The worsening economic situation and the withdrawal of the Daschle nomination appear to have slowed down momentum for health care reform. Do you think there still is enough time to complete health care reform this year? If not, how likely is action in 2010? Does health care reform have to be bipartisan in order to move forward?

Does it still make sense for the next nominee for HHS secretary to also head the White House Office on Health Reform?

-- Marilyn Werber Serafini, NationalJournal.com

13 responses: Andy Stern, Raymond C. Scheppach, Billy Tauzin, Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., Len Nichols, John C. Goodman, Leonard D. Schaeffer, James P. Gelfand, Jason Rosenbaum, Nancy H. Nielsen, Donna Shalala, Chris Jennings, Ron Pollack

Economic stimulus legislation moving through Congress would allow states to open Medicaid to people who are unemployed (regardless of income), people with incomes below 200 percent of the federal poverty level, and all recipients of food stamps.

Is this a good idea? And, in the long term, in which direction should Washington be steering Medicaid?

Critics claim that this sets a bad precedent for expanding this public program beyond the poor, while others claim that Medicaid is the best way to temporarily help people affected by the shaky economy, and that those with money will pursue other options.

Under the bill, states could cover unemployed people under Medicaid, with the federal government picking up the tab, for those who lost their jobs between Sept. 1, 2008, and Dec. 31, 2010. States could make this coverage available to unemployed and uninsured individuals in one or more of the following categories:

• Individuals (and dependents) who receive unemployment insurance benefits or who have exhausted unemployment insurance benefits;

• Those with incomes below 200 percent of the federal poverty level and are not otherwise eligible for Medicaid or the State Children's Health Insurance Program;

• Those receiving food stamps who are not otherwise eligible for Medicaid or SCHIP.

-- Marilyn Werber Serafini, NationalJournal.com

12 responses: Rich Umbdenstock, Andy Stern, Jason Rosenbaum, Marilyn Werber Serafini, Grace-Marie Turner, Jason Rosenbaum, Karen Davis, Raymond C. Scheppach, Ron Pollack, Donna Shalala, Henry J. Aaron, Grace-Marie Turner