Lousiana hires lawyers to fight Medicaid reduction

The high-powered Patton Boggs law firm was retained to help the state fight the projected loss of some $700 million in federal financial support from the $6 billion-plus Medicaid health insurance program for the poor.

Health-care providers are trying to pool $200,000 to fund a major federal lobbying effort, which will also include former Louisiana U.S. Sen. John Breaux.

Meanwhile, U.S. Rep. Anh “Joseph” Cao, R-New Orleans, filed legislation seeking relief from the Medicaid funding formula that’s prompting the possible loss of federal dollars.

Among the co-sponsors are four of Cao’s fellow Louisiana congressmen, including U.S. Reps. Bill Cassidy, of Baton Rouge, and Charles Boustany, of Lafayette. Also signing on were congressmen from Florida and Texas whose states could be impacted by the formula.

Louisiana health secretary Alan Levine said he “talked strategy” Thursday with members of a Patton Boggs lobbying team that’s been retained through the Louisiana Recovery Authority Support Foundation.

“It’s the best team we can buy,” Levine said.

Health-care groups are channeling money into the foundation to finance the lobbying effort.

The funding issue involves calculation of the Federal Medical Assistance Percentage.

At stake is the potential loss of some $700 million in annual federal support for the Medicaid program.

The problem involves a U.S. Health and Human Services formula used to determine the level of federal support for state Medicaid programs. The funding formula considers per-capita income over a three-year period to determine the state’s participation rate.

Louisiana had temporary economic increases because of an influx of federal disaster recovery dollars after hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005.

The state’s per capita income increased enough to trigger a 17 percent reduction in federal Medicaid funding support.

The state argues the influx of recovery money skewed the true per-capita income and federal relief is warranted from what would be a devastating blow to a program that serves some 1.2 million residents — mainly children and the elderly.

Levine said the Cao legislation “could be the vehicle” to fix the flaw in the federal formula. “It’s all part of our bigger picture. We are evaluating every avenue,” Levine said.

The Cao legislation would allow use of pre-hurricane historical averages in calculations.

Louisiana’s entire congressional delegation is working together to figure out a solution, Levine said.

“We are reaching out to members of Congress outside our state to encourage them to look at this issue and we are getting some traction,” he said.

Levine earlier sought federal lobbying help from Louisiana health-care provider groups. The LRA Support Foundation — created by the Baton Rouge Area Foundation — became the vehicle to pool the funds.

The fundraising goal is $200,000, foundation president John Spain said. “They are still out there raising the funds,” said Spain.

“They have hired Patton Boggs to try to have some impact on this issue in Washington before the end of the year,” said Spain. “Patton Boggs is good at what they do.”

Spain said the foundation was previously used to hire a lobbying firm to help with federal hurricane recovery funding efforts.

Louisiana Health Insurance