Medicaid

Earlier today, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi unveiled health reform legislation that promises to expand health care to 36 million people and fortify Medicare and Medicaid. The House democrats sponsored bill calls for an expansion of Medicaid, an end to insurance companies' exemption from anti-trust laws and an employer mandate for businesses with payrolls of more than $500,000. The estimated cost of the reform legislation is $894 billion over 10 years, spurring ongoing debates about just how much this will add to the federal deficit.

Details emerged Monday about fees and coverage limits under a proposal offered by Senator Max Baucus.

Democrats and Republicans are concerned about costly new Medicaid obligations without money to pay for them.

The hospital industry, the White House and the Senate Finance Committee have struck a deal under which hospitals will agree to $155 billion in Medicare and Medicaid cuts over the next decade to pay for health reform. The deal hinges on the cuts phasing in as uninsured patients gain coverage, presumably covering the gap as the federal money goes away.

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At least 25 states have enacted or proposed cuts in health-insurance programs for the poor, potentially leaving millions of patients with reduced levels of care or no coverage at all.

Obama advisers and Congressional Democrats are aiming for a stimulus package by late January that could total just under $1 trillion.

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When President-elect Barack Obama arrives at Philadelphia's Independence Hall today to meet with the nation's governors, the main question will be not whether he will deliver fast fiscal relief to the states, but how much?

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/12/01/AR2008120102622....