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Critical Medicaid Support for Katrina Victims

September 20, 2005 -- The desperate and immediate need of hundreds of thousands of people displaced by Hurricane Katrina for health and mental health services created a dilemma for Congress, which had agreed to cut $10 billion cut from Medicaid. Because Medicaid is the primary source of states’ mental health care funding, such cuts would further shred the safety net for vulnerable populations, including many of those traumatized by Katrina.

Recognizing the need, Congress has postponed its budget reconciliation efforts until mid-October, and a bipartisan group of Senators, led by chairman and ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee, Charles Grassley (R-IA) and Max Baucus (D-MT), has introduced emergency health care relief legislation.

The Grassley-Baucus Emergency Health Care Relief Act uses Medicaid to meet the needs of Katrina survivors. See a summary at:

http://www.bazelon.org/issues/medicaid/grassley-baucus

The package would provide immediate Medicaid health care relief to Katrina victims with incomes up to 100 percent of the federal poverty level -- up to 200 percent for pregnant women and children. It includes options for comprehensive mental health services, including home- and community-based services and would cover 100 percent of the cost with federal dollars in the states affected by Hurricane Katrina (Louisiana, Mississippi and counties under disaster designation in Alabama). The coverage would last for five months, with an option to extend it for another five months.

Summary of the Emergency Health Care Relief Act Alert on proposed Medicaid cuts Letter from the Campaign for Mental Health Reform on assistance needed for Katrina victims (.pdf file)

Call Your Lawmakers

This legislation must be enacted rapidly by both chambers of Congress. It will move quickly in the Senate. Although no bill has been introduced in the House, if approved by the Senate it could be accepted in the House.

Just as important as emergency relief for people left without access to services by Katrina, however, is Medicaid’s integrity and its ability to provide critical services and supports to low-income people in every state. The Medicaid cuts proposed in budget reconciliation discussions that would harm people with mental health care needs must be permanently abandoned. Now is not the time to weaken the federal hallmark of health care.

Families USA has set up a toll-free call line to support this legislation (1-800-828-0498) and to urge Congress to permanently delay budget reconciliation. The telephone number is connected to the Capitol switchboard.

Take action Now!

Call your Senators and Representative today. Dial 1-800-828-0498 or visit www. congress.org and look up your lawmakers’ direct lines. Urge them to:
• Quickly pass the Emergency Health Care Relief Act introduced by Senators Grassley and Baucus.
• Abandon efforts to cut Medicaid in budget reconciliation. To continue on this path is unacceptable. It would exacerbate the current realities our nation is facing in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina for low-income individuals, including thousands of children and adults with mental health care needs.
• Remind them that efforts to reunite families displaced by the hurricane would be thwarted by cuts to Medicaid. If Medicaid is undermined, children with mental health care needs would be at risk of separation from their families in costly and restrictive settings.
• Remember the crisis the public mental health system already faces, highlighted by the President’s New Freedom Commission on Mental Health. Further cuts would accelerate a downward spiral.

Call Today

Call the number on the list, or you can go through the Capitol switchboard, 202-224-3121. If you’re a constituent from the Senator’s state or the Representative’s district, be sure to say so.

Email is less effective, but still counts, so if you can’t call, use the email link you’ll find on each Senator’s page at congress.org.

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