White House "Will Win Medicaid Battle"

With 1996 an election year, US public sector health care reform in 1995 did not have to be perfect, according to Eric Weissenstein, Washington bureau chief for Modern Healthcare, speaking at the health Industry Group Purchasing Association's legislative seminar (see also pages 16-17). Further changes could have been made after the coming election, he told those attending the meeting.

Given the current scenario and President Clinton's stance on medicare reform, the president's election platform will tell seniors that he saved Medicare for them and assure the middle-class sandwich generation that they will not become impoverished paying for nursing home care for their parents, Mr Weissenstein predicted.

The differences between the President and the Republican Congress on medicare reform are not that great, with the biggest difference being how to treat beneficiaries, he said. The $11 per month difference in the monthly Medicare payment by the end of the period under discussion should be something that can be easily resolved, as can most other issues. There can be no compromise when it comes to Medicaid, he added, since either there are federal entitlements or there are not. And he predicted that the White House will win on this issue.