41 Senators Reject Proposals to Cut Medicaid - June 14, 2011

After outreach from NAPH, member hospitals and many other Medicaid advocates, 37 Democratic senators on June 7 signed a letter to President Barack Obama supporting his stated opposition to the establishment of block-grant Medicaid funding or other proposals to drastically cut Medicaid spending. The letter was drafted by Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.V.), a long-standing Medicaid advocate. The senators contend that block grants are arbitrary and set unrealistic caps that may not be adjusted for economic difficulties or demographic shifts. In addition, the senators say that they reject proposals to cap total federal Medicaid spending. The letter went on to state that the senators would continue to work with President Obama to oppose such efforts to cut Medicaid spending. In addition to the 37 letter signees, four other Senate Democrats sent letters to the President opposing major Medicaid cuts, bring the group of supportive senators to 41 – a filibuster-proof group. With high-level deficit reduction talks ongoing, NAPH continues to build the case for protecting the Medicaid program from massive cuts as part of a deficit reduction compromise.