Academy Supports Commission to Reform Medicaid

AAFP and 18 other physician, hospital and health plan organizations strongly endorsed a proposal to create the Bipartisan Commission on Medicaid to study solutions to the program’s fiscal crisis.

The endorsement came in a letter to Sens. Gordon Smith, R-Ore., and Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., who proposed an amendment to the fiscal year 2006 budget that would allow Congress to fund such a commission. On March 17, by a vote of 52 - 48, the Senate approved the amendment, which would eliminate the Medicaid funding reductions until the proposed commission completed its review of the program and developed recommendations for maintaining Medicaid’s solvency.

“We must remember that reform may have enormous consequences for the vulnerable people who rely on Medicaid and those providing needed health care services,” the letter said. Noting a bipartisan commission was “a responsible approach to examining the program,” the letter concluded, “Any reforms should be policy-based, not budget-based, and should improve and secure our nation’s health care safety net.”