TRENTON — Calling Medicaid spending "out of control," Gov. Chris Christie on Tuesday proposed cutting $540 million from the massive health insurance program for the poor, though he did not say from where more than half the cuts would come. In his budget address to the Legislature on Tuesday, Christie said that in the short term, the state would...
TRENTON — Calling Medicaid spending "out of control," Gov. Chris Christie on Tuesday proposed cutting $540 million from the massive health insurance program for the poor, though he did not say from where more than half the cuts would come.
In his budget address to the Legislature on Tuesday, Christie said that in the short term, the state would save $240 million by transferring 121,000 low-income senior citizens and disabled people who now receive Medicaid into a managed care program, cutting state reimbursement to nursing homes, and rooting out fraud.
According to the budget proposal, these measures would save about $113 million. The administration anticipates another $127 million in Medicaid savings, but officials could not immediately account for them Tuesday night.
The remaining $300 million in savings would come from a "global waiver" the state plans to seek from the federal government to revamp the entire Medicaid program. The goal, Treasury spokesman Andy Pratt said, is to make sure "we spend on Medicaid is what we can afford."
New Jersey expects to spend about $4.4 billion in state and federal funds on Medicaid during the fiscal year than ends June 30 to cover about 1.3 million of the state’s poorest residents. The program is $1.3 billion in the red.
"Medicaid’s growth is out of control,’’ Christie said in his budget address.
Pratt said it would be "irresponsible" to speculate which strategies the federal government might allow the state to use to save money. Some states have gotten permission to curb costs by limiting the number of participants or eliminating so-called "optional" benefits such as medical equipment including wheelchairs, chiropractic care and prescription drugs.
The question of where the proposed cuts to Medicaid would come from was largely overshadowed by the governor’s plan to spend money on other health and human services programs.
Those spending increases include $10 million more for hospitals to provide charity care for uninsured patients, and an extra $30 million for new housing for the mentally ill and developmentally disabled — some of whom have been on a waiting list for years.
"This investment in community services, along with funds to move people off of the waiting list, is an important message of community integration to people with developmental disabilities and their families,’’ said Lowell Arye, executive director of the Association for the Betterment of Citizens with Disabilities.
In addition to Medicaid, the governor’s budget proposal also includes about $31 million in savings in other health and human services areas by reducing the monthly stipend most of the state’s 50,000 childless "general assistance" welfare recipients receive by $15, from $140 to $125.
The Rev. Bruce Davidson of the Anti-Poverty Network lamented how little Christie’s budget proposal focused on the needs of the very poor.
"There is the highest poverty rate in two decades and nobody is talking about it,’’ he said.
Previous coverage:
• Gov. Christie plans $300M spending cut to Medicaid through shift to managed care
• N.J.'s poorest residents fear Christie budget will cut Medicaid funds
• Christie vetoes bill to expand Medicaid to more women seeking family-planning services
• Christie may propose cutting Medicaid spending, employee benefits to help close $10.5B budget gap
• Gov. Christie delivers budget address to N.J. Legislature - live coverage
• State aid for N.J. municipalities to remain flat under Christie's proposed budget
• Gov. Christie to beef up state aid for schools by $250M, sources say
• Gov. Christie's budget to include $200M in business tax cuts