Granholm blasts GOP fiscal plan
Keep the tax breaks for the rich, stiff the poor. Turn the criminals loose! But, what else is new?

House wants to save millions by cutting Medicaid for 43,000. A vote by the full House could come as early as Thursday.

Gov. Jennifer Granholm on Tuesday blasted a House Republican spending plan as "cruel," saying it balances the budget on the backs of Michigan's most vulnerable.

"What they have put on the table is foul indeed," she said. "The priorities in this bill are completely wrong."

The overall $39.6 billion spending proposal announced Monday by House GOP leaders includes a number of cuts to Medicaid and the closure of two prisons to balance the budget.

It does not, though, include any new fees or changes to close about 170 tax loopholes that Granholm said would generate revenue for the state.

"These are tax subsidies for special interests," she said.

House Appropriations Chairman Scott Hummel, R-DeWitt, acknowledged that the plan includes difficult cuts. But he defended the proposal, emphasizing that it would not increase taxes and fees.

"There are some difficult decisions in this budget," he said.

Granholm's comments came as members of the House's powerful budgeting committee toiled throughout the day and evening to review the plan - just a day after leaders unveiled the massive, 683-page bill. GOP leaders are hoping for a vote from the 29-member panel as early as today.

Granholm chastised Republicans for their decision to put the entire 2005-06 budget into one huge bill instead of writing one bill for each state department.

"They don't have the courage to make these cuts individually," she said. "They want to jam this through under the cover of darkness before anyone gets wind of it, and citizens should ask why."

Granholm said she took particular offense to cuts targeting the poor and people with disabilities who are on Medicaid.

About 43,000 residents would lose their Medicaid health benefits under the GOP plan, including about 13,000 single 19- and 20-year-olds and 30,000 people who currently get their benefits because they take care of a low-income child on Medicaid.

Combined with freezing enrollment in another Medicaid program that provides limited benefits to people who wouldn't qualify otherwise, the changes would save $144 million in the fiscal year that begins Oct. 1.

Granholm proposed limiting services for childless adults younger than 21 and so-called "caretaker relatives" to save a combined $11.4 million.

Rep. Bruce Caswell, R-Hillsdale, is the chairman of the House Appropriations Department of Community Health Subcommittee. He said one-third of the caregiver relatives who would lose their Medicaid eligibility under the GOP proposal could get benefits through another category.

When we will learn? We will pay for these people one way or another. You can pay through Medicaid, or you can pay through your private insurance. The GOP would rather have you pay through your insurance. HA HA HA! Fools. Keep your precious tax breaks.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Health insurance premiums will cost families and employers an extra $922 on average this year to cover the costs of caring for the uninsured, according to a report released on Wednesday.

With the added cost, the yearly premiums for a family with coverage through an employer will average $10,979 in 2005, said the report from consumer group Families USA.

By 2010, the additional costs for the uninsured will be $1,502, and total premiums will hit $17,273. In 11 states, the costs of the uninsured will exceed $2,000 per family.

For individuals, the extra charge this year is estimated to be $341 on average, rising to $532 in 2010. Total premium charges for individuals will be $4,065 in 2005, and $6,115 in 2010.

"The stakes are high both for businesses and for workers who do have health insurance because they bear the brunt of costs for the uninsured," said Ron Pollack, executive director of Families USA.

Nearly 48 million Americans will lack health insurance for 2005, the report said.

Uninsured patients pay about one-third of the costs of their care provided by doctors and hospitals, the report said.

The remaining costs -- more $43 billion in 2005 -- are considered "uncompensated care." The government picks up part of the tab and most of the rest is added to insurance premiums for people with health coverage, the report said.

"Ironically, this increases the cost of health insurance and results in fewer people who can afford insurance - a vicious circle," the report said.

>Keep this in mind people. What the GOP is proposing has you pay more in the long run. Sort of a "backdoor" tax increase that will keep their friends in the insurance industry rich, and perhaps push you into the ranks of the uninsured when the cost gets so high that you can't afford it.

Either way, you pay. Would you rather pay smaller fees to the government, or huge fees to the insurance industry? You decide.