Medicaid Recipients to Pay for Unnecessary Emergency Services

While some of Governor Richardson’s harmful health care proposals — guranteed issue and mandates that insurance companies spend 85 percent of their premiums on actual treatments — to name just a few went nowhere once during this legislative session.
Thankfully, legislation passed and the governor has signed HB 438, legislation that demands co-pays from Medicaid recipients who have incomes above certain levels and use emergency room services unnecessarily. While the HB 438″>fiscal impact report fails to come to a conclusion regarding the cost or cost savings associated with the legislation, it seems hard to believe that the effort will not save money. After all, emergency room trips are very expensive and if you are receiving taxpayer-financed care, these co-pays can at least cause people to think twice before an unnecessary emergency room visit.
Kudos to House Minority Whip Keith Gardner for this successful effort.