Thursday, March 13, 2008

The Shell Game Lives On

Categories: Wisconsin

Wisconsin faces a budget shortfall. So what does Gov. Jim Doyle propose doing about it? Scamming taxpayers in other states through the Medicaid program.

The idea is to levy a new tax on hospital says, which qualifies the state for more matching funds from federal taxpayers. The match then frees up some state money spent on Medicaid for other purposes.

This approach is hazarous for Badger State residents, too, says the Wisconsin Policy Research Institute :

"The feds are often fickle when approving more federal funding to bail states out. This was in evidence in the 2003-05 budget, when Doyle wrote in hundreds of millions of dollars in Intragovernmental Transfer Program (IGT) funds to plug a Medicaid hole. As it turns out, Doyle’s number was pure fiction, as the money never materialized. Naturally, the state refinanced some debt (opting to pay more long-term in exchange for a few immediate bucks) rather than making any substantive budget changes."