Sunday, January 3, 2010

How to help California / Removing conditions attached to federal funds an excellent idea - SignOnSanDiego.com

How to help California / Removing conditions attached to federal funds an excellent idea - SignOnSanDiego.com:


"We’ve confirmed that there’s going to be an intriguing wrinkle in the 2010-11 budget proposal that Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger will unveil later this month: a request to the federal government that it reduce the strings it attaches to billions of dollars in stimulus aid it has already committed to provide to struggling states.

As first reported by Josh Barro on the RealClearMarkets.com Web site, the governor wants President Barack Obama and Congress to eliminate the requirement that stimulus dollars be used to maintain existing service levels in programs getting federal support. This prevents California from changing its Medicaid eligibility rules, which are generous, and from reducing Medicaid services to core medical care, omitting such relative luxuries as acupuncture and chiropractic. There is no good reason why California should spend twice as much per-capita on Medicaid as Nevada."