Health+Policy+Briefing


 * 1)  The five major health issues are: Medicaid, health insurance exchange enabling legislation, state regulation of health insurance industry, health information technology, and health policy innovations. []
 * 2)  The main problem is that the Medicaid budget is astronomical and yet no cuts can be made because the people on Medicaid need the assistance that they receive to pay for their medical expenses. []
 * 3)  Medicaid impacts the entire country as it provides medical aid to all the poor in the entire country. []
 * 4)  Medicaid is designed for the poor, low income demographic while including children, their parents, pregnant women, the elderly, and people with disabilities. It is aimed at people who can not afford their own health care. []
 * 5)  The estimated cost is currently approximately $288 billion dollars. Medicaid shares costs between the states and the federal government. The states spent about $112 billion while the federal government spent about $176 billion. []
 * 6)  As of right now another $14 billion is being added to the budget as the number of people on Medicaid is increasing at an average rate of 8.5 %. The cost could reach as high as $43 billion. []
 * 7)  If the way that money is spent on Medicaid is not cleaned up then the majority would be in trouble of losing the coverage they have and the spending would also destroy the current budget as the amount spent is astronomical. []
 * 8)  One possible solution is to increase the effectiveness of money spent by ensuring that the money is spent wisely. This could involve an audit. It would also help lower costs if the price for health insurance in the private sector was decreased allowing the people with lower-incomes to find and afford their own care. []
 * 9)  Supporters of the solution are, Senate President David Williams, R-Burkesville, and other senators such as Republicans Jared Carpenter, Berea, and David Givens, Greensburg. They feel that the budget cuts are necessary and that if cuts aren’t made soon then even deeper cut will have to happen in the futur. []
 * 10)  Adversaries to the solution are, Gov. Steve Beshear and the House along with Sen. Tim Shaughnessy, D-Louisville. They feel that the cuts would be ineffective and would essentually increase the current costs of medicaid instead of decreasing it. []