To express the sense of the Senate that Medicaid administrative regulations should not undermine Medicaid's role in our Nation's health care system, cap Federal Medicaid spending, or otherwise shift Medicaid cost burdens to State or local governments and their taxpayers and health providers, or undermine the Federal guarantee of health insurance coverage Medicaid provides.

1. Adds SEC. __. SENSE OF THE SENATE REGARDING MEDICAID ADMINISTRATIVE REGULATIONS wherever appropriate

   Adds a section

   Inserted: SEC. __. SENSE OF THE SENATE REGARDING MEDICAID ADMINISTRATIVE REGULATIONS.

   Inserted: (a) Findings.--The Senate makes the following findings:

   Inserted: (1) The Medicaid program provides essential health care and long-term care services to approximately 60,000,000 low-income children, pregnant women, parents, individuals with disabilities, and senior citizens. It is a Federal guarantee that ensures the most vulnerable will have access to needed medical services.

   Inserted: (2) Medicaid provides critical access to long-term care and other services for the elderly and individuals living with disabilities, and is the single largest provider of long-term care services. Medicaid also pays for personal care and other supportive services that are typically not provided by private health insurance or Medicare, but are necessary to enable individuals with spinal cord injuries, developmental disabilities, neurological degenerative diseases, serious and persistent mental illnesses, HIV/AIDS, and other chronic conditions to remain in the community, to work, and to maintain independence.

   Inserted: (3) Medicaid supplements the Medicare program for about 7,500,000 low-income elderly or disabled Medicare beneficiaries, assisting them with their Medicare premiums and co-insurance, wrap-around benefits, and the costs of nursing home care that Medicare does not cover. The Medicaid program spends over $100,000,000,000 on uncovered Medicare services.

   Inserted: (4) Medicaid provides health insurance for more than one-quarter of America's children and is the largest purchaser of maternity care, paying for more than one-third of all the births in the United States each year. Medicaid also provides critical access to care for children with disabilities, covering more than 70 percent of poor children with disabilities.

   Inserted: (5) More than 21,000,000 women depend on Medicaid for their health care. Women comprise the majority of seniors (64 percent) on Medicaid. Half of nonelderly women with permanent mental or physical disabilities have health coverage through Medicaid. Medicaid provides treatment for low-income women diagnosed with breast or cervical cancer in every State.

   Inserted: (6) Medicaid is the Nation's largest source of payment for mental health services, HIV/AIDS care, and care for children with special needs. Much of this care is either not covered by private insurance or limited in scope or duration. Medicaid is also a critical source of funding for health care for children in foster care and for health services in schools.

   Inserted: (7) Medicaid funds help ensure access to care for all Americans. Medicaid is the single largest source of revenue for the Nation's safety net hospitals, health centers, and nursing homes, and is critical to the ability of these providers to adequately serve all Americans.

   Inserted: (8) Medicaid serves a major role in ensuring that the number of Americans without health insurance, approximately 47,000,000 in 2006, is not substantially higher. The system of Federal matching for State Medicaid expenditures ensures that Federal funds will grow as State spending increases in response to unmet needs, enabling Medicaid to help buffer the drop in private coverage during recessions.

   Inserted: (9) The Bush Administration has issued several regulations that shift Medicaid cost burdens onto States and put at risk the continued availability of much-needed services. The regulations relate to Federal payments to public providers, and for graduate medical education, rehabilitation services, school-based administration, school-based transportation, optional case management services.

   Inserted: (b) Sense of the Senate.--It is the sense of the Senate that administrative regulations should not--

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   Inserted: (1) undermine the role the Medicaid program plays as a critical component of the health care system of the United States;

   Inserted: (2) cap Federal Medicaid spending, or otherwise shift Medicaid cost burdens to State or local governments and their taxpayers and health providers, forcing a reduction in access to essential health services for low-income elderly individuals, individuals with disabilities, and children and families; or

   Inserted: (3) undermine the Federal guarantee of health insurance coverage Medicaid provides, which would threaten not only the health care safety net of the United States, but the entire health care system.

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As printed