House Budget Bill Would Eliminate All Current Federal Medicaid Benefit Standards for Six Million Children and Other Vulnerable People
November 2005
The fiscal year 2006 House of Representatives budget bill, passed on November 15, 2005, eliminates federal standards governing the medical services Medicaid must cover for certain groups of beneficiaries. These changes fall most heavily on the six million children enrolled in the program who have incomes just over the federal poverty level and on adults with disabilities and chronic medical conditions at all income levels. This issue brief details the proposed cuts and their impact.
Download report (PDF)President Bush signed into law a final fiscal year 2006 budget in February 2006. See a summary of the Medicaid provisions.