Governors Pushing for Medicaid Funding in Second Stimulus Package
Governors are pressing Congress to include funding for Medicaid in a second economic stimulus package, CongressDaily reports. A bipartisan group of governors on Monday morning met with President Bush and administration officials to push a second package; however, Bush indicated that he likely would not support the effort, according to CongressDaily. The group also plans to meet with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) on Tuesday. Pelosi met with a group of Democratic governors on Monday afternoon.
Vermont Gov. Jim Douglas (R) said his top priority in a second stimulus package is Medicaid funding. Governors at the winter meeting of the National Governors Association on Monday were expected to approve an interim resolution adopted in January that calls for a stimulus package that would provide $6 billion in Medicaid assistance, among other measures. In addition, some governors say that Congress must place a moratorium on a Bush administration regulation that would make it more difficult for states to expand SCHIP eligibility to children in families with incomes greater than 250% of the federal poverty level (Goode, CongressDaily, 2/25).
Health IT
The governors of three states that have implemented electronic health record systems are urging Congress to pass legislation that would create federal standards for EHRs, CongressDaily reports. The systems -- in place in Iowa, West Virginia and Vermont -- allow medical records to be transferred between cities and towns, but the lack of interstate compatibility has hurt efforts to connect rural and urban areas (CongressDaily, 2/26).
