For a long time, the Bush Administration has not been opposed to using federal funds for the State's Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) in order to insure adults. With all the debating this year on the expansion of SCHIP to more people, the Administration exercised their power by making new rules that make it nearly impossible for states to expand their children's insurance programs.
The suing of the Bush Administration was how the States chose to react to this. The Minneapolis Star Tribune reports that that federal government will be cutting Medicaid funding for families that make between 100-200 percent of the federal poverty level.
MinnesotaCare, which is Minnesota's SCHIP program, provides coverage for about 18,000 adults who fall into this range of income levels. So this is not good news for them. If there is no federal funding , the premiums will quadruple for these 18,000. Brian McClung, a spokesman for MN Governor Tim Pawlenty says, "A significant loss of federal funding would seriously jeopardize the state's ability to assist low-income residents in need of health insurance."
So why does MinnesotaCare allow parents to be covered in the first place? "We believe that by covering parents, you improve access for kids," said Minnesota's Medicaid director, Christine Bronson.
the only reason these cuts are not in effect at the moment is due to the Federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid granting a 2 week extension until these matters are ironed out. You can imagine how many fingers are crossed right now.
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