Time to Stop the Medicaid Bailouts

Brian Blase / June 10, 2010

This week Congress, in its consideration of HR 4213 (American Jobs and Closing Tax Loopholes Act of 2010) is going to tap into taxpayers wallets once again to bailout Medicaid, a government health program administered by the states for the poor and the indigent. Many governors are feverishly lobbying for a six-month extension of the Medicaid bailout to their states. The first bailout was enacted in the so-called Stimulus Bill, the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of February 2009. But if the Medicaid bailout is continued, Congress will add another $25 billion to the national debt.

Propping up the Status Quo. Meanwhile, states won’t make necessary budget cuts, delaying their return to fiscal sanity. Congress will refuse to pay for this additional spending with budget cuts elsewhere because they will deem it an ‘emergency’, which under the Congressional “pay-as-you-go” rules exempts this bailout from being “paid for”. (more…)