[4alabama] Medicaid Meeting

[Judy R. Roy]

-----Original Message-----
From: Alarise at googlegroups.com [mailto:Alarise at googlegroups.com]On
Behalf Of Kimble Forrister
Sent: Wednesday, November 28, 2007 6:59 PM
To: Alarise at googlegroups.com
Subject: Medicaid meeting today



Rep. Knight and Sen. Bedford called another meeting on short notice to talk
about the Medicaid budget. This time they had Rep. Artur Davis there to give
the congressional perspective. I got a call less than an hour before the
meeting, requesting that I be ready to talk about how Medicaid affects
Alabamians.

Rep. Davis said that Alabama has just about the thinnest level of coverage
in the country. He said our problems are the fault of no one governor, but
of a generation of governors. (When I spoke, I said I hoped we wouldn't let
another generation pass before we addressed the issue.) He said Washington
has done some irresponsible things: When they put on the
proof-of-citizenship requirement, they found ONE woman who was an
undocumented immigrant. He said that the worker who served your fast food,
if she gets sick, is simply out of luck in Alabama. He suggested that we
need a regional strategy to get a better matching formula, since the
Southeast has so many poor people and the formula doesn't offer anything to
address those numbers.

Medicaid Commissioner Steckel had no new budget numbers to offer. Sen.
Bedford said, nothing personal, but as a budget chairman I am appalled that,
60 days before the legislative session begins, we have nothing to go on.
Knight pointed out that department heads are supposed to report their budget
needs to the Legislative Fiscal Office by Dec. 1.

Several lawmakers praised Steckel, said she was knowledgeable but in a tough
position. Sen. Parker Griffith, MD, said he suspected it was her boss who
was the problem, and he suspected that Riley doesn't know where the money is
to solve the problem. He said we've listened to much to the rosy scenario
about 3% unemployment, but we haven't listened to the workers who make $6 or
$7 and hour and whose employers stop them from working more than 29 hours --
employers who pay no income tax.

Rep. Davis said we're not having a bold enough conversation.

We agree.

Kimble Forrister
Arise Citizens' Policy Project
P. O. Box 1188
Montgomery, AL 36101
(334) 832-9060




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