News Release

Statement by Mike Leavitt Secretary of Health and Human Services Regarding the First Medicaid Commission Meeting

This week marks the 40th anniversary of the Medicaid program. While we have talked about reforming the program for a decade or more, now is the time to get the job done.

Right now, Medicaid is not living up to its potential, and it is becoming financially unsustainable. Spending on Medicaid has recently grown by more than ten percent a year, and is projected to grow by more than 7 percent a year for the next decade. And state governments already spend more in aggregate on Medicaid than they do on public schools.

If we don�t take action to address the strains on Medicaid, people currently served will lose coverage. This is already happening in many states, and we must act quickly to prevent this from happening in more states.

Representing hospitals and doctors, insurers and policy experts, state agencies and pharmacies, the members of this commission bring ideas and perspectives from across the board. I am confident that they can sift through the ideas others have offered, as well as their own ideas, and propose a plan to give state governments more flexibility to extend coverage to people who need it, and save money in the process.

There is a time in the life of every problem when it is big enough to see but small enough to solve. For Medicaid, that window of opportunity is upon us. This commission can help us to build on our common ground and solve this problem. We are here because we believe that health care should be within the reach of every American. And a functioning, sustainable Medicaid is essential to meeting this goal.