L
LadyBlu
Guest
I found this ont he Austin American Statesman website and figured that I should share this with everyone. I can honestly say I have never been a Bush fan. This only cements my feelings towards him. Because of some very bad moves he and the Senate made while he was Governor of this great state. We will be suffering for the next 4-6 years. We also fell victim to his *Great Tax Cut Scheme*. Please do not allow this to happen to the rest of the United States.
Lawmakers take officials to task over Medicaid budget
By Gary Susswein
American-Statesman Staff
Wednesday, March 28, 2001
A group of lawmakers accused state health officials of deliberately low-balling their Medicaid cost estimates two years ago to save money for Gov. George W. Bush's proposed tax cuts and help his presidential campaign.
Health Department officials denied those charges and said they were caught off guard by a sudden jump in Medicaid enrollment, increased health-care and drug costs and a change in the federal Medicaid funding formula.
"There was absolutely no intention to understate the needs," Health and Human Services Commissioner Don Gilbert told the committee.
But that didn't dissuade several House Appropriations Committee members who said the Health Department made the half-billion-dollar error despite several early warning signs that the numbers might have been off.
"I'm very suspicious, and I still think the whole thing is based on politics because of the presidential race," Rep. Paul Moreno, D-El Paso, said at a Tuesday hearing.
Other committee members — including Chairman Rob Junell, D-San Angelo — backed up Gilbert's account. They said the missed projections were an honest error and that the state actually appropriated too much in other areas of the budget — hardly a sign of conspiracy, they said.
The Health Department underestimated the number of Medicaid recipients in the current budget by about 100,000 people and miscalculated Medicaid costs by $595 million.
The Appropriations Committee on Monday passed an emergency appropriations bill to pay for those costs as well as $110 million in prison overruns and $13 million for storm damage from last year. The committee shifted $718 million that had been budgeted but never spent for other programs in 2000-01 to pay for those unexpected costs.
But some committee members wondered whether the extra Medicaid costs were really unexpected.
Rep. Glen Maxey, D-Austin, said Health Department employees have told him they projected Medicaid costs accurately but that those projections were discarded by agency officials who submitted the budget requests.
Health Department officials said that wasn't true.
Rep. Sylvester Turner, D- Houston, suggested Medicaid enrollment was starting to increase during the 1999 legislative session and was ignored by the Health Department. Agency officials, though, said they didn't see the trend until the fall of 1999, after the 2000-01 budget had already been passed.
"The Department of Health and Human Services low-balled their numbers . . . probably low-balled reports that the numbers were going to be higher," Turner said.
While he said he doesn't know who made that decision, he said it was meant to free up money for the $1 billion in tax cuts spearheaded by Bush.
"We ended up giving away what we did not have (through tax cuts) and making the governor at the time looking pretty good nationally," he said
You can view this artcle at:
http://www.austin360.com/local/partners/aas/legislature/032801/medicaid.html
Lawmakers take officials to task over Medicaid budget
By Gary Susswein
American-Statesman Staff
Wednesday, March 28, 2001
A group of lawmakers accused state health officials of deliberately low-balling their Medicaid cost estimates two years ago to save money for Gov. George W. Bush's proposed tax cuts and help his presidential campaign.
Health Department officials denied those charges and said they were caught off guard by a sudden jump in Medicaid enrollment, increased health-care and drug costs and a change in the federal Medicaid funding formula.
"There was absolutely no intention to understate the needs," Health and Human Services Commissioner Don Gilbert told the committee.
But that didn't dissuade several House Appropriations Committee members who said the Health Department made the half-billion-dollar error despite several early warning signs that the numbers might have been off.
"I'm very suspicious, and I still think the whole thing is based on politics because of the presidential race," Rep. Paul Moreno, D-El Paso, said at a Tuesday hearing.
Other committee members — including Chairman Rob Junell, D-San Angelo — backed up Gilbert's account. They said the missed projections were an honest error and that the state actually appropriated too much in other areas of the budget — hardly a sign of conspiracy, they said.
The Health Department underestimated the number of Medicaid recipients in the current budget by about 100,000 people and miscalculated Medicaid costs by $595 million.
The Appropriations Committee on Monday passed an emergency appropriations bill to pay for those costs as well as $110 million in prison overruns and $13 million for storm damage from last year. The committee shifted $718 million that had been budgeted but never spent for other programs in 2000-01 to pay for those unexpected costs.
But some committee members wondered whether the extra Medicaid costs were really unexpected.
Rep. Glen Maxey, D-Austin, said Health Department employees have told him they projected Medicaid costs accurately but that those projections were discarded by agency officials who submitted the budget requests.
Health Department officials said that wasn't true.
Rep. Sylvester Turner, D- Houston, suggested Medicaid enrollment was starting to increase during the 1999 legislative session and was ignored by the Health Department. Agency officials, though, said they didn't see the trend until the fall of 1999, after the 2000-01 budget had already been passed.
"The Department of Health and Human Services low-balled their numbers . . . probably low-balled reports that the numbers were going to be higher," Turner said.
While he said he doesn't know who made that decision, he said it was meant to free up money for the $1 billion in tax cuts spearheaded by Bush.
"We ended up giving away what we did not have (through tax cuts) and making the governor at the time looking pretty good nationally," he said
You can view this artcle at:
http://www.austin360.com/local/partners/aas/legislature/032801/medicaid.html