Heidi Alexander: “The proponents of this health reform package are misleading the American public into believing that you can raise the…”

“The proponents of this health reform package are misleading the American public into believing that you can raise the baseline and reduce spending at the same time. You cannot expect to expand coverage to millions of individuals and to curb costs. The Medicaid program already pays doctors and hospitals at levels well below those of Medicare and private insurance. And most of the time, below actual costs. Many doctors, therefore, do not accept Medicaid patients and the cuts may further discourage participation. The most devastating cuts to the States' Federal Medicaid match have been deferred because of relief from the stimulus package. Those deferments end in December. The health care bill before us now is a disaster waiting to happen and an expansion of an already broken program.”