States Protest Contributions to Drug Plan ("clawback" plan, billions due)

[Rose Siding]

The Bush administration notified states on Monday that they would have to pay billions of dollars to the federal government next year to help finance the new prescription drug benefit for people on Medicare.

Administration officials said the 2003 Medicare law required them to charge the states, in exchange for taking over the states' Medicaid drug costs. But state officials immediately took issue with the calculations, saying federal officials had overstated the amounts owed by some states.

The Congressional Budget Office estimates that the required state contributions, also known as clawback payments, will total $6 billion in the current fiscal year and $124 billion from 2006 to 2015.

Some states, including Texas, are openly resisting the requirement for such payments. But federal officials said that if states did not comply, the money could be deducted from federal payments to the states for other programs like Medicaid.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/18/politics/18medicare.html

[ShockediSay]

1. 'Clawback payment' is a TAX INCREASE!

Hue and cry.

Loud and long.

Don't let anybody hear otherwise!