AFT joins advocates calling on president not to cut Medicaid

When the federal budget proposal for fiscal year 2006 was still a work in progress, hundreds of healthcare advocacy groups, including the AFT, asked President Bush not to cut or change the structure of the Medicaid program.

In a letter dated Jan. 12, the groups led by Families USA reminded the president that Medicaid covers more than 53 million Americans.

“Any cuts in this critical program will impair the benefits these vulnerable Americans receive, diminishing the program’s ability to meet the growing need for health coverage for low-income children, parents, seniors, pregnant women, and people with disabilities,” the letter states. It also notes that cuts to Medicaid would hurt healthcare providers and the broader healthcare system.

The letter expressed strong opposition to changes in the structure of the Medi-caid program that would involve “converting the program into a block grant or otherwise imposing caps on federal funding.”

Although Families USA and the other organizations that signed the letter said they recognize the need to address rising healthcare costs, they point out that Medicaid’s overall growth rate is lower than that of private health insurance premiums.

“Cutting or capping the Medicaid program will have profound consequences not just for those who rely on Medicaid but for the overall healthcare system,” the letter stated. Instead of cutting or capping Medicaid, the letter urged the president to address underlying healthcare costs and the growing demand for long-term care.

“It is essential to preserve the individual entitlement provided under Medicaid,” the letter said.

Survey: Easing healthcare costs a top U.S. priority

Most Americans say that lowering the costs of healthcare and health insurance should be the top priority for President Bush and Congress in 2005, according to a recent survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Harvard School of Public Health.

Sixty-three percent of those surveyed cite the cost of healthcare and insurance as the No. 1 priority for the president and legislators. The task of making Medicare fiscally sound came in a close second, with 58 percent of Americans calling it a priority. 

More than half of Americans, 57 percent, place high priority on increasing the number of Americans with health insurance. When asked for the best way to address the issue, Americans are divided: 23 percent say offering businesses tax deductions or other financial incentives to help them provide health insurance to their employees; 17 percent say expanding state programs such as Medicaid; and another 17 percent say offering tax deductions or assistance to help individuals pay for private insurance. A smaller percentage, between 12 percent and 15 percent, prefer other options, such as a national health plan, expanding Medicare to cover people under age 65, and requiring businesses to offer health insurance to employees.

Although Americans favor reducing jury awards in malpractice lawsuits and allowing prescription drugs to be imported from Canada, they rank them relatively low on a list of 12 healthcare priorities.

Allied health bill introduced in House

The Allied Health Reinvestment Act, H.R. 215, was reintroduced in January by U.S. Reps. Cliff Stearns (R-Fla.) and Ted Strickland (D-Ohio). The legislation initially was introduced in Congress on March 23, 2004, as H.R. 4016.

The bill focuses on promotion, recruitment and retention of allied health professionals. It calls for public service announcements at the state and local level, the creation of an Allied Health Professions Service Corps to provide loans and scholarships in exchange for practicing in health shortage areas upon graduation, as well as a student loan fund to increase the number of qualified allied health professions faculty.

In addition, the Health Resources and Service Administration would establish the Council on Health Profession Education to monitor the status of the allied health professions workforce and provide annual reports to Congress. The measure would authorize $28 million in new spending for allied health education from 2005 to 2009, including scholarships. A companion bill, S. 2491, is in the process of being reintroduced in the Senate.

AFT to establish legislative activist network

AFT executive council members have approved a plan to create a member activist network in congressional districts across the country that will foster more political involvement and help move the union’s legislative agenda. At the council’s meeting in Orlando, Fla., Jan. 31-Feb. 2, AFT political and legislative mobilization director John Ost said the initiative is designed to establish or enhance relationships between local affiliates and their respective members of Congress. Anchored by a long-term process of communication and accountability for our elected representatives, the network aims to update and improve the union’s grass-roots lobbying strategy, he said.

State and local presidents will be asked to identify activists who would meet with their members of Congress twice a year to discuss one or two unionwide legislative priorities. The AFT would provide tool kits for these local district meetings, such as talking points and issue information; this would be coupled with an online reporting mechanism so that affiliates can inform the national office about the visits. The initiative is a joint project of the AFT department of legislation and the political and legislative mobilization department.

The network is a vehicle to harness some of the tremendous energy engendered among AFT members during the 2004 presidential campaign and to launch a more long-term political activism. These congressional visits could be supplemented with in-district hearings, testimonials and literature distribution to AFT members to reinforce the legislative message, said Ost.