La. hires lawyers to fight Medicaid reduction

• By MARSHA SHULER
• Advocate Capitol News Bureau
• Published: Nov 13, 2009 - Page: 1A

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The high-powered Patton Boggs law firm was retained to help the state fight the projected loss of some $700 million in federal financial support from the $6 billion-plus Medicaid health insurance program for the poor.

Health-care providers are trying to pool $200,000 to fund a major federal lobbying effort, which will also include former Louisiana U.S. Sen. John Breaux.

Meanwhile, U.S. Rep. Anh “Joseph” Cao, R-New Orleans, filed legislation seeking relief from the Medicaid funding formula that’s prompting the possible loss of federal dollars.

Among the co-sponsors are four of Cao’s fellow Louisiana congressmen, including U.S. Reps. Bill Cassidy, of Baton Rouge, and Charles Boustany, of Lafayette. Also signing on were congressmen from Florida and Texas whose states could be impacted by the formula.

Louisiana health secretary Alan Levine said he “talked strategy” Thursday with members of a Patton Boggs lobbying team that’s been retained through the Louisiana Recovery Authority Support Foundation.

“It’s the best team we can buy,” Levine said.

Health-care groups are channeling money into the foundation to finance the lobbying effort.

The funding issue involves calculation of the Federal Medical Assistance Percentage.

At stake is the potential loss of some $700 million in annual federal support for the Medicaid program.

The problem involves a U.S. Health and Human Services formula used to determine the level of federal support for state Medicaid programs. The funding formula considers per-capita income over a three-year period to determine the state’s participation rate.

Louisiana had temporary economic increases because of an influx of federal disaster recovery dollars after hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005.

The state’s per capita income increased enough to trigger a 17 percent reduction in federal Medicaid funding support.

The state argues the influx of recovery money skewed the true per-capita income and federal relief is warranted from what would be a devastating blow to a program that serves some 1.2 million residents — mainly children and the elderly.