GOP Begins To Unravel Unfunded Medicaid Mandates To States

House GOP conference vice chair Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers of Washington State, Georgia Republican Rep. Phil Gingrey, and Utah Republican Sen. Orrin Hatch introduced legislation on Tuesday that they say will remove “onerous” Medicaid funding requirements for the states.

They say Medicaid spending “ties the hands of states,” consuming, according to a fiscal survey of the states, an average of 22 percent of state budgets.

The bipartisan National Governors Association says that governors nationwide aren’t asking for a bailout fix from the Treasury Department. “In fact, we encourage the federal government to follow the lead of states and make the tough decisions necessary to get its fiscal house in order,” the NGA said. “Federal fiscal stability is critical to the long-term strength of states and the country.”

Hatch, McMorris Rodgers and Gingrey expect the proposal to get broad bipartisan support. “If they [Democrats] care for their citizens and they care for their budgets, they’re going to be with us on this,” Hatch told reporters at a Tuesday press conference. “This is not a partisan bill.”

The sponsors already have significant Republican support for the bill in both the House and Senate. At the press conference, House Energy and Commerce chairman Rep. Fred Upton, Wyoming Sen. John Barasso, House Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee Chair Joe Pitts of Pennsylvania and Tennessee Sen. Lamar Alexander joined in introducing the legislation and have each signed on as co-sponsors.

“The federal government has literally said the states have to spend money the states don’t have,” Alexander said at the Tuesday press conference. “The end result of that? They have to find it somewhere else.”
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