Holy Crap: Kentucky GOP House Opposes GOP Senate's Plan To Balance Medicaid Budget.
House GOP opposes Senate's plan to cut education spending
By Tom Loftus
FRANKFORT, Ky. — House Republican Leader Jeff Hoover said Friday that his GOP caucus opposes the Senate Republican plan to balance the Medicaid budget because it would cut funding for public schools.
“I and the other 41 members of the Kentucky House Republican caucus do not believe it is good public policy to shift funding from education at a time when many of our school districts are counting pennies to balance their own budgets,” Hoover, of Jamestown, said in a statement.
He added, “Therefore, we are opposed to the Senate's proposal regarding the Medicaid funding issue.”
Hoover's statement was released by his staff after a news conference at which Gov. Steve Beshear, a Democrat, was joined by all the leaders of the House Democratic majority to show support for his approach to the Medicaid problem.
Beshear said the Senate's plan, unveiled Tuesday by Senate President David Williams, R-Burkesville, makes unneeded spending cuts to all programs while his own plan would balance the Medicaid budget within that program’s budget.
“Sen. Williams wants our schoolchildren, our college students, our seniors, our veterans, our state police, our prosecutors, our social workers and many others to pay for a shortfall in the Medicaid budget,” Beshear said.
Beshear's plan, approved by the House, calls for $166.5 million in state Medicaid funds for the 2011-12 fiscal year to be transferred to the current year to resolve the Medicaid funding shortfall.
He promises to fill the hole in next year's Medicaid budget by implementing new “managed care” approaches to delivering services.
But Williams has said that Beshear will not be able to live up to his promise, and that the result will be a huge shortage of Medicaid funds next year.
The Senate plan calls for spending cuts of about one half of 1 percent to most state agencies in the last quarter of this fiscal year, which ends June 30, and a cut of about 2 1/4 percent to all agencies in 2011-12.
Modest cuts now in state spending to deal with the shortage will avoid a much larger budget problem next year, Williams has said.
The Senate voted Friday morning to stand by its approach to the problem, meaning a House-Senate conference committee will be named to resolve the conflict.
Senate Republican Whip Carroll Gibson of Leitchfield said Hoover’s statement would make no difference in the Senate’s position.
At Friday's news conference Beshear and Health and Family Services Secretary Janie Miller presented their case that that they can save the $166.5 million in the next fiscal year.
“Other states have implemented expanded managed care contracts that have generated savings while improving health outcomes,” Miller said. “We are confident that we will replicate those results. The cabinet is poised to act quickly and aggressively to achieve contracts with managed care organizations to capture the required savings.”
By Tom Loftus
FRANKFORT, Ky. — House Republican Leader Jeff Hoover said Friday that his GOP caucus opposes the Senate Republican plan to balance the Medicaid budget because it would cut funding for public schools.
“I and the other 41 members of the Kentucky House Republican caucus do not believe it is good public policy to shift funding from education at a time when many of our school districts are counting pennies to balance their own budgets,” Hoover, of Jamestown, said in a statement.
He added, “Therefore, we are opposed to the Senate's proposal regarding the Medicaid funding issue.”
Hoover's statement was released by his staff after a news conference at which Gov. Steve Beshear, a Democrat, was joined by all the leaders of the House Democratic majority to show support for his approach to the Medicaid problem.
Beshear said the Senate's plan, unveiled Tuesday by Senate President David Williams, R-Burkesville, makes unneeded spending cuts to all programs while his own plan would balance the Medicaid budget within that program’s budget.
“Sen. Williams wants our schoolchildren, our college students, our seniors, our veterans, our state police, our prosecutors, our social workers and many others to pay for a shortfall in the Medicaid budget,” Beshear said.
Beshear's plan, approved by the House, calls for $166.5 million in state Medicaid funds for the 2011-12 fiscal year to be transferred to the current year to resolve the Medicaid funding shortfall.
He promises to fill the hole in next year's Medicaid budget by implementing new “managed care” approaches to delivering services.
But Williams has said that Beshear will not be able to live up to his promise, and that the result will be a huge shortage of Medicaid funds next year.
The Senate plan calls for spending cuts of about one half of 1 percent to most state agencies in the last quarter of this fiscal year, which ends June 30, and a cut of about 2 1/4 percent to all agencies in 2011-12.
Modest cuts now in state spending to deal with the shortage will avoid a much larger budget problem next year, Williams has said.
The Senate voted Friday morning to stand by its approach to the problem, meaning a House-Senate conference committee will be named to resolve the conflict.
Senate Republican Whip Carroll Gibson of Leitchfield said Hoover’s statement would make no difference in the Senate’s position.
At Friday's news conference Beshear and Health and Family Services Secretary Janie Miller presented their case that that they can save the $166.5 million in the next fiscal year.
“Other states have implemented expanded managed care contracts that have generated savings while improving health outcomes,” Miller said. “We are confident that we will replicate those results. The cabinet is poised to act quickly and aggressively to achieve contracts with managed care organizations to capture the required savings.”
Labels: GOP, Kentucky politics, Republicanism
posted by KYJurisDoctor at 12:20 PM
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