Letter to The Honorable Kathleen Sebelius

Letter

Sen. Cornyn Repeats Call for Administration to Make Cost Reduction Focus of Health Care Reform

U.S. Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), a member of the Senate Finance Committee, today issued the following statement addressing the continued failure of HHS Secretary Sebelius and the Administration to concentrate on lowering costs in the health care debate:

"Lowering costs has always been the number one goal of health care reform for Republicans and the American people. It was good to hear Sec. Sebelius acknowledge this, but the problem is that the Democrats' bill not only fails to do that, it actually increases premiums for individuals purchasing coverage on their own according to the nonpartisan CBO," Sen. Cornyn said. "This is why we need to scrap this bill in its entirety and start over crafting legislation that will truly accomplish that goal of reducing costs for middle-class Americans and small businesses."

"Reforming our entitlement programs, which are wrought with waste, fraud and abuse that costs taxpayers tens of billions of dollars every year, would be a good place to start. Doing so would not only reduce costs, it will help alleviate deficit spending by the federal government," Sen. Cornyn also said.

Today, Sen. Cornyn sent a letter to Sec. Sebelius following up on his request from last week's Finance Committee hearing for detailed justification regarding increased taxpayer spending due to Medicaid fraud. A copy of that letter is attached and the full text is below:

February 18, 2010

The Honorable Kathleen Sebelius
Secretary
Department of Health and Human Services
200 Independence Avenue, SW
Washington, DC 20201

Dear Secretary Sebelius:

Skyrocketing health care costs are one of the most significant pressures of American families, businesses, and taxpayers. According to the actuaries of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), health care spending by the government grew faster (8.7 percent) than private health care spending (3 percent) during your first year as Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS). In fact, the CMS actuaries estimate that by 2012 government spending will account for more than half of all American health care spending. You have a great responsibility to focus on the Medicare and Medicaid programs. According to the Office of Management and Budget, Medicare spending will consume nearly $7 trillion over the next 10 years and federal spending on the Medicaid program will reach nearly $3.6 trillion over that same period. The substantial state shares of spending on the Medicaid program continues to crowd out other local priorities like education and law enforcement.

Effective leadership of CMS is critically important, and I hope the Administration will soon appoint a qualified CMS Administrator. Unfortunately, Medicare and Medicaid lose billions of dollars annually due to fraud, waste, and abuse--dollars that could be invested to provide medical care. For example, CMS has reported that Medicaid's improper payment rates average between 8.7 and 10.5 percent among the states, which is substantial considering the combined federal/state spending on Medicaid reached approximately $438 billion in 2009. With these concerning program issues, it is difficult to understand why a CMS Administrator has not yet been named--more than a year into the Obama Administration.

The Administration's fiscal year 2011 Budget requests an additional $26 billion in Medicaid spending, and Congress needs to make informed decisions about this request. I believe you have a responsibility to the American people to provide a detailed justification of the improper payment rates in the Medicaid program. Taxpayers deserve to know if their dollars are being invested in patient care for the Medicaid population or how their dollars are being wasted through inefficient bureaucracies. Taxpayers deserve to know which states are managing their programs effectively and which ones are not. I appreciate your commitment to me during the Senate Finance Committee hearing a few weeks ago to make public state specific information about Medicaid, including 1) Medicaid improper payment rates for each state, and 2) whether those improper payments are eligibility errors or provider reimbursement errors for each state. I request that you provide this promised information no later than Wednesday, February 24th.

At a time of a record $12 trillion national debt and unprecedented Washington budget deficits, the integrity of government health care programs is an urgent issue. I look forward to your prompt reply.

Sincerely,

/s/

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