• By GERARD SHIELDS
• Advocate Washington bureau
• Published: Jan 28, 2010 - Page: 8A

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WASHINGTON — Two Republican members of Louisiana’s delegation are criticizing Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., saying that the way she secured $300 million in the Senate health-care bill could jeopardize any chance of getting more much-needed federal Medicaid money.

Landrieu has been roundly criticized by political pundits across the nation for voting for the bill she opposed before receiving the money.

Landrieu has said she initially opposed the bill because it had a government-run option in it that was removed before the final vote.

State officials estimate that it will need $2.6 billion to plug a Medicaid gap over the next five years.

“At the end of the day it looks sleazy, and it doesn’t really solve the problem,” Rep. John Fleming, R-Minden, said of the Landrieu move. “We should have stayed steady as a delegation.”

Landrieu is incensed by the criticism, saying she alerted the delegation of her attempts to secure the money in the first legislative vehicle available.

Gov. Bobby Jindal listed Medicaid funding as his top priority for the delegation, Landrieu said.

“To not support this amendment is a slap in the face to the state and the people of Louisiana,” Landrieu said.

The state has struggled with the Medicaid funding issue, known as the Federal Medicaid Assistance Percentage. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services formula is based on per-capita income over a three-year period.

Because Louisiana saw income rise due to the rebuilding after hurricanes Katrina and Rita, state officials say the FMAP formula for the state was artificially high.

The percentage of federal Medicaid assistance would drop from its traditional 72 percent to 64 percent next year. The state is currently at 81 percent due to an influx of national stimulus dollars.

Rep. Anh “Joseph” Cao, R-New Orleans, has introduced legislation to take into account the two years prior to the hurricane.

Sen. David Vitter, R-La., said Landrieu’s actions and the controversy that followed it hurt the merits and prospects of state congressional members to securing future federal Medicaid dollars.