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Which Medicaid Patients Will Survive Michigan’s 2006 State Budget Fight? Nation’s Governors Urge President Bush and Congress to Protect Medicaid Already Michigan’s Largest Employer, Health Care Jobs Continue to Grow New CDC Report Examines Disparities in Health of African Americans Editorial: Life is About Tough Choices. But Health Care is About Life.
Gov. Jennifer Granholm on Feb. 10 will unveil her 2006 state budget, a spending plan she has vowed will protect health care services for the state’s skyrocketing population of Medicaid patients. Republicans have pledged to cut up to $500 million from Medicaid, arguing that the state can no longer afford to fund health care for poor children, the blind and disabled, and elderly residents at the expense of other state programs and services. To date, the public positions of Democrat Granholm and the GOP-led legislature set up a classic budget showdown. What is certain is that the governor and legislature eventually must agree on how to balance the budget, which is projected to be up to $400 million in the red in 2005 and another $1 billion in the hole for 2006. As more Michigan residents have lost jobs with health care benefits, the state’s Medicaid caseload has soared to record levels. The increased costs represent up to $600 million of the state’s budget shortfall, says the Citizens Research Council of Michigan. Other experts estimate that Michigan’s Medicaid program, which has been cut more than $500 million since 1998, is already underfunded by more than $1 billion, even as the caseload continues to grow. They note that one in seven Michigan residents is now getting health care from Medicaid, and achieving significant savings will require the state to eliminate coverage for tens of thousands of residents. “The only way to achieve significant savings in Medicaid is to toss thousands of Michigan residents off of the program, which obviously would unleash an unthinkable human tragedy,” said MHA President Spencer Johnson. “We are counting on the governor and the legislature to protect health care for those vulnerable Michigan residents who are least able to lose it.” Nation’s Governors Urge President Bush and Congress to Protect Medicaid The National Governors Association has launched a campaign aimed at protecting Medicaid in Washington as President Bush and Congress begin work on the 2006 federal budget. In a letter to President Bush and congressional leaders, the governors said reforming the Medicaid system “should not be part of a 2006 fiscal year budget reduction and reconciliation process, especially if it does nothing more than shift additional costs to states.” The governors said state Medicaid caseloads had increased by roughly one-third in the past four years, a key driver of Medicaid spending increases. Already Michigan’s Largest Employer, Health Care Jobs Continue to Grow
Employment at US hospitals increased again in December, continuing a trend that has positioned health care as one of the nation’s — and Michigan’s — largest employers. In fact, health care is Michigan’s largest employer, providing more than 424,500 direct jobs and 233,500 indirect jobs that pump $25.4 billion a year in wages and salaries into the state’s economy, found a study released in June 2004 by the Partnership for Michigan’s Health. Employment at the nation's hospitals rose 0.11 percent in December 2004 to a seasonally adjusted 4,351,600 people, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported last month. That's 4,900 more than in November 2004 and 67,700 more than a year ago. Those numbers without seasonal adjustment show hospitals employed 4,353,100 people in December, 3,000 more than in November and 64,800 more than a year ago. A new study will be released in June that quantifies total health care employment in Michigan, which is projected to be a strong source of new jobs in the future, even as the state continues to lose manufacturing jobs. New
CDC Report Examines Disparities in Health of African Americans A report issued in January by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention details various disparities experienced by African Americans. For example, African American stroke survivors are more likely than white survivors to report limitations in performing basic activities such as walking, sitting or standing for extended periods of time. African Americans also are much more likely than whites to have hypertension (40.5 percent vs. 20.4 percent), a major risk factor for heart disease and stroke, though they are more likely to be aware of their condition (70.3 percent vs. 62.9 percent) and to be under treatment (55.4 percent vs. 48.6 percent). Also, certain infectious diseases, such as gonorrhea, are more prevalent among African Americans. Information on initiatives to eliminate racial and ethnic health disparities is available from the CDC.
Life is About Tough Choices. But Health Care is About Life.
In Lansing and Washington, the budget red ink is deep. Our elected leaders will be making many tough decisions and choices in shaping Michigan’s and the nation’s spending plans for 2006. As our legislators work to write the new budgets, will they choose to sacrifice health care for vulnerable senior citizens? How about for the blind and disabled? Or how about for children and single moms? In Michigan, a record 1.4 million residents — nearly one of every seven people living in our state — now depend on Medicaid for their health care. The face of Medicaid today is of your grandparent living out the final days of his life in long-term care. In Michigan, elderly and disabled citizens make up a relatively small number of total Medicaid patients, but they consume more than 70 percent of total Medicaid spending. Will the politicians choose to end care for them?
Medicaid and Medicare also provide revenues that generate health care jobs. In Michigan, the health care industry is now the state’s top employer, with robust job growth predicted in the future to care for our aging and longer-living population. Will we cut the revenues that support health care jobs and treatment for all of us? Yes, life is about tough choices. We remind the Congress and legislature that health care is quite literally about life.
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