Thursday, January 27, 2005
Contact: Paul Sloca, (573)751-1271
Governor Reaffirms Commitment to Significant Medicaid Reform
JEFFERSON CITY - Missouri Governor Matt Blunt today reaffirmed his commitment to reforming Missouri's overextended Medicaid system which is failing to serve the state's neediest residents.
"I pledged during the campaign that we would not make any eligibility changes until after we had made Medicaid as efficient as possible," Blunt said a day after announcing Medicaid reform proposals as part of his State of the State Address. "If we enact everything that we outlined yesterday, then Medicaid will be as efficient as possible but we will still need to make eligibility changes to balance the budget. But we also did not make any reductions to services currently provided to pregnant women, children and the visually impaired."
Nationally, Missouri ranks second only to Tennessee in Medicaid spending. Even if Blunt's changes are enacted, Missouri will still rank behind 14 other states in the amount of state dollars spent on Medicaid.
Blunt's budget calls for a total reduction of $626 million in state and federal Medicaid spending for the budget year that begins on July 1, 2005. Even with those reductions, Missouri's Medicaid budget will be more than $5 billion.
As part of his plan to make Medicaid more efficient, Blunt has proposed that the Department of Social Services conduct annual eligibility reviews of every Medicaid recipient that could result in $100 million in savings that would be used to serve those Missourians who most need public assistance.
"We must keep our commitment to those who truly need public assistance while at the same time reforming a system which has grown well beyond taxpayer's ability to pay," Blunt said.