9:30 a.m.: Convene and resume consideration of S.Con.Res. 95, the FY 2005 Budget Resolution.
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TEXT OF AMENDMENTS -- (Senate - March 10, 2004)----- Worth looking at.
Some choice bits I heard last night.
[Page: S2524] GPO's PDF
CLINTON:"But instead of acting to prevent these (Medicaid)cuts, and stanch the bleeding, this budget turns the knife further and forces $11 billion in unspecified cuts to Medicaid at a time when such cuts would cripple states' ability to serve American families in hard times. "
Mr. NICKLES: I am going to embarrass our colleagues by getting into this in detail. I will show people how some States have been ripping off this system--probably to a much greater extent than even what has been bantered about. It is happening today. Many States are doing it.
I will tell my colleagues that we found we had payment abuse in Medicaid in years past. You might remember the program. We had to tighten it up. There has been some tightening of the intergovernmental transfer but not very much. A lot more could be done.
[Page: S2525] GPO's PDF
The Federal Government should not be taking Medicaid dollars and giving it to States to pave roads. In some cases, Medicaid money is being used by States for a lot of things other than Medicaid. I am telling you, I come to this Senate with, I hope, a little bit of credibility. I am not making this up. Maybe a more thorough evaluation in the committees would expose some of this. The earned-income tax program, people don't want to touch it. Yet the GAO says there is an error rate, a fraud rate in 27 to 30 percent, or a 32-percent fraud in a program that spends $36 billion a year, and we cannot direct the committee to say, Can you not come up with some savings? I am embarrassed.
Now get this.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from North Dakota is recognized.
(DEM) Mr. CONRAD. Mr. President, my understanding of the Baucus amendment is that he has not taken out the savings at all. All he does is take out the reconciliation instruction. The savings are still there.
Let me comment for a moment, if I can, on what Chairman Nickles is saying, because he is talking about something where I entirely agree with him.
In Medicaid, there are States that are engaged in scams. I don't know how else to say it. What Chairman Nickles has said is entirely accurate. There are States that have figured out ways of tapping into the Federal Treasury and replacing what should be State funds with Federal funds. There is nobody who studies this who doesn't know what the chairman has said is true. (This is a DEMOCRAT talking?)
There are a number of States that have almost made a science out of playing games with Federal programs, to tap into the Federal Treasury, to advantage their States to the disadvantage of Federal taxpayers and to the disadvantage of other States.
But I repeat, in looking at the amendment of Senator Baucus, he has not taken out those savings. Those savings remain in the underlying resolution. It does take out the reconciliation instruction. So I have concluded that the Baucus amendment is worthy of support.
What the chairman has said is something I join in, especially with respect to Medicaid Program abuses. I am very hopeful we will have a hearing on these issues once we get past the budget resolution and the negotiations in which the chairman will have to be involved in the coming days. We ought to put a bright light on some of these States that are engaged in a scam operation.
Mr. VOINOVICH. Mr. President, before I speak in regard to this amendment, I would like to comment on the discussion that was going on with regard to Medicaid. There is no question that as a former Governor I observed my colleagues around the country gaming the system, and I was very upset about it. I made it very clear as chairman of the National Governors Association that this was an understanding we had with the Federal Government and that we ought not to game the system.
[Page: S2526] GPO's PDF
I will never forget while I was Governor there was a management company, which is no longer in business, that went out to the school districts and showed them how they could use the money they were spending for health care and use it to game the Medicaid system. They would charge a percentage of the money they were able to bring into the school district. When I found out about it, I went beserk, to put it as nicely as I can, and that stopped. But I do think it is not a sacred cow that ought not be looked at. Just like a lot of mandatory spending we have, it should be reviewed to see if there are ways we can save some money.