[QUOTE]List of “Sweetheart Deals”
Made by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) to
Secure 60 Votes for his Health Care Bill
The bill contains unfunded mandates to states through the expansion of Medicaid but this time with
new special treatment for the states of Nebraska, Vermont, and Massachusetts. These states will
receive Federal Matching Assistance Percentages (FMAP) bonuses such that:
1. Nebraska will receive 100% FMAP for newly eligibles indefinitely, making it the only state
where the federal government will pay for all new enrollees. CBO estimated the cost to the
federal government (additional funds to Nebraska) would be $100 million, which may look
small compared to the other deals negotiated, yet over the long-term will cost far more, since
funding continues indefinitely.
2. Vermont will receive a 2.2% FMAP increase for 6 years for their entire program, thus
receiving an additional $600 million over ten years.
3. Massachusetts will receive a 0.5% FMAP increase for three years for the entire program,
thus receiving an additional $500 million over ten years.
Despite $120 billion in Medicare Advantage cuts, the Manager’s Amendment found a way for
Florida residents, as well as some individuals in Pennsylvania and New York, and potentially
Oregon, to be grandfathered out of receiving the cuts.
Dorgan and Conrad’s “protections for frontier states” provision would, starting in 2011, establish a
1.0 hospital wage index and geographic practice expense floors for hospitals and physicians located
in states where at least 50% of the counties in the state are “frontier”. Not surprisingly, states that
qualify and benefit from this increase in Medicare payments to hospitals and doctors are Montana,
South Dakota, North Dakota, Utah, and Wyoming.
Of the many problems with these “sweetheart” deals, is the door it leaves wide open for more federal
involvement and financing of state-based entitlement programs. Sen. Harkin said it best when he stated
“In 2017, as you know, when we have to start phasing back from 100%, and going down to 98%, they
are going to say, ’Wait, there is one state that stays at 100?’ And every governor in the country is goingto say, ‘Why doesn’t our state stay there?’…When you look at it, I thought well, god, good, it is going to
be the impetus for all the states to stay at 100%. So he [Nelson] might have done all of us a favor.”
Changes for Sen. Ben Nelson (Nebraska):
Nelson secured more than just 100% federal funding for Nebraska’s Medicaid expansion, the list of
“sweeteners” (also called the “Cornhusker kickback” by Senate Republicans) includes:
o An exemption from the insurance tax for Nebraska non-profit insurers, with language written
in a way that only applies to Mutual of Omaha Insurance Company and Blue Cross Blue
Shield Plans (BCBS) of Nebraska (and Michigan). According to news reports, Nelson’s
office states that BCBS “would pay between $15 million and $20 million less in fees under
the Senate bill than it would have without a change.”
o An exemption from taxes for Medicare supplemental (“Medigap”) insurance providers.
Specifically, Mutual of Omaha, will not have to pay taxes on Medigap insurance, while
reports also indicate that this tax break will be extended to other companies.[/QUOTE]
CONTINUE READING PDF:
http://www.eagleforum.org/alert/2009...nate-deals.pdf