Cochran Warns Health Care Reform Problems ‘Coming Home to Roost’

WASHINGTON, March 27 -- The office of Sen. Thad Cochran, R-Miss., issued the following news release:

In the two years since enactment of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, U.S. Senator Thad Cochran (R-Miss.) today asserted that the "harsh realities of the health care reform law are coming home to roost."

Cochran, who opposed the Affordable Care Act, delivered a Senate floor speech today addressing some of the problems arising from the law for Mississippi. His address came on the second day of arguments before the U.S. Supreme Court challenging the constitutionality of the sweeping reform measure that was forced through a Democratic-controlled Congress and signed into law on March 23, 2010.

"The harsh realities of the health care reform law are coming home to roost," Cochran said. "It is proving to be an increasingly expensive statute that is making health care more costly for individuals, businesses and state governments. It is my hope that relief can be found at the <org>Supreme Court to avoid the potentially devastating impact of this law."

In his speech, Cochran was critical of the cost burdens that will be forced on states as more people are shifted to Medicaid, the federal-state cost-share entitlement program designed to provide health care to the disadvantaged. By 2014, the Affordable Care Act could increase Medicaid enrollment in Mississippi by 44 percent.

"Mississippi has the highest Federal Matching Assistance Percentage in the country at approximately 75 percent. But over the course of the next ten years, Mississippi's state match requirement will increase by $127 million each year for a total of $1.3 billion by the year 2020. Our state's budget can't handle that burden," Cochran said.

"The Affordable Care Act is essentially taking aim at state governments. The Maintenance of Effort requirements for the Medicaid program are particularly restrictive. They inhibit a state's ability to spend taxpayer money wisely and they ignore the inherent problems within the Medicaid program. Mississippi faces the prospect of expending all of its resources keeping up with an unfunded mandate that increases its dependency on the federal government, while being forced to cut other important services such as education," he said.

Cochran also addressed the problem of decreasing physician participation rates for Medicaid.

In addition, Cochran was critical of federal bureaucratic red tape that is inhibiting Mississippi's drive to develop a health insurance exchange program by 2014, as mandated in the Affordable Care Act. The Senator referenced the unwelcome nature of federal involvement in the exchanges, calling deadlines put forth in the law "unrealistic." He credited the state with moving toward a state-based health insurance exchange tailored to Mississippi's needs before the enactment of the health care reform law.

The following is the text of Cochran's remarks to the Senate on Tuesday:

Mr. President, the harsh realities of the health care reform law are coming home to roost. My state is bracing for the impact of the so-called Affordable Care Act.

Under the health care reform law, enrollment under an expanded Medicaid program is projected to increase in Mississippi by as much as 44 percent in 2014. Thousands of people will be forced onto the Medicaid rolls. The legislature in my state is wrestling with serious budget pressures from the cost of the Medicaid program.

Mississippi has the highest Federal Matching Assistance Percentage in the country at approximately 75 percent. But over the course of the next ten years, our state match requirement will increase by $127 million each year for a total of $1.3 billion by the year 2020. Our state's budget can't handle that burden. Other states are facing similar constraints.

The Affordable Care Act is essentially taking aim at state governments. The Maintenance of Effort requirements for the Medicaid program are particularly restrictive. They inhibit a state's ability to spend taxpayer money wisely, and they ignore the inherent problems within the Medicaid program. Mississippi faces the prospect of expending all of its resources keeping up with an unfunded mandate that increases its dependency on the federal government, while being forced to cut other important services, such as education.

In addition, physician services cannot keep up with the demands of an expanded Medicaid population. This law does nothing to address the decreasing physician participation rates and quality of care issues that are rampant in the Medicaid program.

Another charge to states in these difficult fiscal times is the creation of health insurance exchanges. My state's efforts to develop an exchange began well before the Affordable Care Act was enacted, and the state is on track to set up a health insurance exchange by the January 2014 deadline. We are committed to creating an exchange that can serve Mississippians well. But the state needs flexibility in order to do that. The Mississippi Department of Insurance is working to avoid defaulting to a federally-run exchange, but bureaucratic red tape threatens to hinder their progress. I am concerned that the deadlines put forth in the Affordable Care Act are unrealistic due to the amount of time and resources that are required for such a large project.

These are just a few of the problems the Affordable Care Act poses for my state and others as well. It is proving to be an increasingly expensive statute that is making health care more costly for individuals, businesses and state governments. It is my hope that relief can be found at the Supreme Court to avoid the potentially devastating impact of this law.

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