In a final vote that surprised no one, the Senate voted for cloture in their version of the Health Care Reform bill. One of the holdouts for a vote for the cloture motion was Senator Mary Landrieu of Louisiana.
"Madam President, I come to the floor today to acknowledge those members, but also to speak on the business before the Senate today, and that is the question of whether to proceed to debate on the Patient Protection and Affordability Act, a bill that is the best work of the Senate to date on a subject of significant importance to the people of my State and the country. I have decided to vote today to move forward on this important debate."
According to the New Orleans Times-Picayune, "Landrieu withheld her commitment for as long as possible to extract as many concessions as she could."
The concession she wanted was language inserted into the bill to correct what would have been a drop in Medicaid money going into Louisiana. What's amazing is not the fact that it was included, but the language used to obfiscate its existence:
From page 432 of the Bill:
"SEC. 2006. SPECIAL ADJUSTMENT TO FMAP DETERMINATION FOR CERTAIN STATES RECOVERING FROM A MAJOR DISASTER.
Section 1905 of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1396d), as amended by sections 2001(a)(3) and
2001(b)(2), is amended— (1) in subsection (b), in the first sentence, by striking ‘‘subsection (y)’’ and inserting ‘‘subsections (y) and (aa)’’; and (2) by adding at the end the following new subsection:
‘‘(aa)(1) Notwithstanding subsection (b), beginning January 1, 2011, the Federal medical assistance percentage for a fiscal year for a disaster-recovery FMAP adjustment State shall be equal to the following:
‘(A) In the case of the first fiscal year (or part of a fiscal year) for which this subsection applies to the State, the Federal medical assistance percentage determined for the fiscal year without regard to this subsection and subsection (y), increased by 50 percent of the number of percentage points by which the Federal medical assistance percentage determined for the State for the fiscal year without regard to this subsection and subsection (y), is less than the Federal medical assistance percentage determined for the State for the preceding fiscal year after the application of only subsection (a) of section 5001 of Public Law 111–5 (if applicable to the preceding fiscal year) and without regard to this subsection, subsection (y), and subsections (b) and (c) of section 5001 of Public Law 111–5.
‘‘(B) In the case of the second or any succeeding fiscal year for which this subsection applies to the State, the Federal medical assistance percentage determined for the preceding fiscal year under this subsection for the State, increased by 25 percent of the number of percentage points by which the Federal medical assistance percentage determined for the State for the fiscal year without regard to this subsection and subsection (y), is less than the Federal medical assistance percentage determined for the State for the preceding fiscal year under this subsection.
‘‘(2) In this subsection, the term ‘disaster-recovery FMAP adjustment State’ means a State that is one of
the 50 States or the District of Columbia, for which, at any time during the preceding 7 fiscal years, the President has declared a major disaster under section 401 of the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act and determined as a result of such disaster that every county or parish in the State warrant individual and public assistance or public assistance from the Federal Government under such Act and for which— ‘‘(A) in the case of the first fiscal year (or part of a fiscal year) for which this subsection applies to the State, the Federal medical assistance percentage determined for the State for the fiscal year without regard to this subsection and subsection (y), is less than the Federal medical assistance percentage determined for the State for the preceding fiscal year after the application of only subsection (a) of section 5001 of Public Law 111–5 (if applicable to the preceding fiscal year) and without regard to this subsection, subsection (y), and subsections (b) and (c) of section 5001 of Public Law 111–5, by at least 3 percentage points; and ‘‘(B) in the case of the second or any succeeding fiscal year for which this subsection applies to the State, the Federal medical assistance percentage determined for the State for the fiscal year without regard to this subsection and subsection (y), is less than the Federal medical assistance percentage determined for the State for the preceding fiscal year under this subsection by at least 3 percentage points.
‘‘(3) The Federal medical assistance percentage determined for a disaster-recovery FMAP adjustment State under paragraph (1) shall apply for purposes of this title (other than with respect to disproportionate share hospital payments described in section 1923 and payments under this title that are based on the enhanced FMAP described in 2105(b)) and shall not apply with respect to payments under title IV (other than under part E of title IV) or payments under title XXI.
Because of a sudden increase in per-capita income going into the state from Federal hurricaine relief money, the Medicaide reimbursement would have been cut. In other words, did the Federal aid money make everyone look too rich?
The Congressional Budget Office estimates that this provision will get the state approximately $100 million. Landrieu, on the other hand, estimates up to $300 million.
Politico reports that the Gentlewoman from Louisiana, Ms. Landrieu, will be hosting a fundraiser for Mr. Reid, the Senate Majority Leader from Nevada, next month in New Orleans.
New Orleans is the home of Congressional Representative Anh "Joseph" Cao, the only Republican to support the Health Reform bill on the House side.
Locally, Pierce County has been awarded a $4.4 million federal Energy Efficiency Grant. The grant will be overseen by the new county "sustainability manager," Ryan Dicks, son of Congressional Representative Norm Dicks.
In his $92,583/year role, Mr. Dicks will be overseeing projects to:
- Replace part of the heating system at the jail
- Convert older homes with wood, oil or baseboard heat to more efficient systems
- Convert older traffic lights to high-efficiency models
- Upgrade the sign at the Sprinker Recreation Center to a more energy efficient one
- Replace the County's 10-year old disk storage system to a more modern one
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