From Crunch to Crisis: State Budgets, Medicaid and the Economy

Medicaid programs are feeling the strain as enrollment grows while state revenues come in lower than projected. This briefing, cosponsored by the Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured, looked at the recession’s effect on Medicaid programs and low-income individuals and families.

Speakers:

– Robin Rudowitz, principal policy analyst for the Kaiser Commission and former Medicaid director in the Office of Legislation at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services

– Tom Betlach, director of the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System, the agency administering multiple sources of governmental and private funds in the state and responsible for regulatory oversight and compliance of Medicaid managed care health plans and health care providers

– Jason Helgerson, administrator of Wisconsin’s Division of Health Care Financing, and a key person in the merger of the state’s Medicaid, Badgercare and Healthy Start programs into the comprehensive Badgercare Plus program

– Gwen O’Shea, president and CEO of the Health and Welfare Council of Long Island, a private, not-for-profit, health and human services planning, research/public education and advocacy organization that serves as the umbrella for public and voluntary agencies working with Long Island’s poor and vulnerable individuals and families

Ed Howard of the Alliance and Diane Rowland of the Kaiser Commission co-moderated.

Transcript

Full Transcript (Adobe Acrobat PDF)

Speaker Presentations

Robin Rudowitz Presentation (PowerPoint)
Thomas Betlatch Presentation (PowerPoint)
Jason Helgerson Presentation (PowerPoint)
Gwen O’Shea Presentation (PowerPoint)