Romney, Kennedy lobby for keeping Medicaid funds
WASHINGTON -- Concerned that millions of dollars in federal Medicaid contributions to Massachusetts could be at risk, Governor Mitt Romney and Senator Edward Kennedy met with a top Bush administration official yesterday to argue that the funding is critical in providing healthcare to the poor and uninsured.
The closed-door meeting with Mike Leavitt, secretary of the US Department of Health and Human Services, was the latest effort by Romney and Kennedy to persuade the federal government that Massachusetts deserves to continue receiving a waiver to certain Medicaid rules that amounts to $585 million for the state every year.
Though they wouldn't say exactly how much, Romney and Kennedy said the state is in jeopardy of losing a small portion of that amount because of changes in what kinds of healthcare spending at the state level qualifies for federal matching dollars. (Medicaid costs are split 50-50 between state and the federal government.)
Federal officials indicated to the Romney administration last week that some of the money Massachusetts receives through the waiver is in question. But Romney and Kennedy said after yesterday's meeting that they were encouraged by Leavitt's willingness to consider the state's case to keep getting the funding.
''There continues to be very good progress . . . and I think we're on a good track," Romney said. Kennedy added, ''This is an enormously important source of resources for the state and . . . we want to make sure that Massachusetts is not going to be shortchanged."
No one from Leavitt's office was available for comment.
In January, Romney and Kennedy succeeded in winning the $585 million waiver for three years, which came after federal Medicaid officials questioned how Massachusetts and other states were raising their share of costs.
But the waiver was a result of an informal agreement reached with the former US health and human services secretary, Tommy Thompson, and state officials have since been working out the details with the new secretary. 