The march to the sea begins . . . (Medicaid changes may be underway; knock on wood)

The 8-3 Macon Telegraph writes:

"Georgia's two-fold plan to help balance this year's budget using adjustments in Medicaid programs is in trouble.

Senior citizen lobbying groups have assailed both plans, and the governor has delayed implementation of one, the plan to eliminate the Nursing Home Medically Needy Program, for 90 days. The program provides financial assistance to about 1,700 elderly nursing home residents, and its elimination could have literally thrown out of nursing home facilities these aged pensioners if their income fell only slightly over the Medicaid limit. The governor is being advised to abandon, not just to delay, the cut.

The other plan was to begin what is a federally mandated program called estate recovery, first authorized by Congress in the 1993 Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act. One of its provisions does require states to seek recovery from nursing home and other medical institution patients and allows recovery for other Medicaid services from the estates of recipients and from liens placed on their homes. The money recovered is returned to the Medicaid Program and recycled to provide care for others in need.

The problem is that the recovery rules adopted by the state's Department of Community Health are far more aggressive and punitive that those of other states, which has raised the ire of the AARP and even nursing home associations."