Release Report on Medicaid's Status

Friday, September 24, 2010

Grassley Continues to Press for Release of Congressionally Mandated Report on Medicaid's Status

WASHINGTON - Sen. Chuck Grassley is again pressing the federal Department of Health and Human Services to finish and release a long overdue, congressionally mandated report on Medicaid's financial and enrollment status.  The report was due Jan. 1, 2010.

"I said before that the report might contain bad news, but we all need to see it," Grassley said.  "The new health care reform law expands Medicaid by the greatest amount in the program's history, yet states are already struggling to afford their existing Medicaid responsibilities.  A true picture of Medicaid's financial state is necessary to ensure that services are funded adequately for the millions of people who rely on the program.  It would really bother me if HHS were withholding the report because they don't want people to know what the true picture of Medicaid is."

Grassley is ranking member of the Committee on Finance, with jurisdiction over health care programs including Medicaid.  The text of his letter to HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius is available here.