Leavitt won't name states cheating Medicaid

WASHINGTON — Health Secretary Mike Leavitt on Wednesday refused to identify the states he says are cheating taxpayers out of $40 billion in Medicaid money, even as senators pressed him for details about President Bush's proposal to force states to curb mismanagement.

The former Utah governor did say that Utah was not one of the offending states while he was governor.

Bush has proposed squeezing Medicaid by forcing the states to find $40 billion over a decade by correcting mismanagement on their end of the state-federal health insurance program for the poor. That would lessen the financial pressure on the federal government.

Several governors met with Leavitt and Senate leaders to emphasize state opposition to Bush's proposed cuts and their desire to win more flexibility to pursue their own savings.

"You've got broad-based unity among the governors," said Virginia Gov. Mark Warner, a Democrat who attended the meetings. "The Medicaid system over the long term is unsustainable. We've got to make changes in it. For many states now, Medicaid costs are outstripping education."

Warner said governors found "some sympathy" but no promises from congressional leaders that the budget should not simply shift costs to states.

Other governors participating were Republicans Mike Huckabee of Arkansas and Mike Rounds of South Dakota, and Democrat Tom Vilsack of Iowa. They met with the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, Republican Chuck Grassley of Iowa, and the committee's top Democrat, Max Baucus of Montana.

Leavitt's refusal before the committee to name the states that are mismanaging the money aroused suspicions among senators that the administration is seeking a spending cut by another name.

"If forced to make cuts in Medicaid this year, we should all realize that it is unrealistic and misleading to say that we are simply cutting fraud and closing loopholes," Baucus told Leavitt.

Baucus said lawmakers should be given a "better understanding of what the states are doing." He asked for a state-by-state accounting of Medicaid mismanagement.

"We're still trying to figure out where they're doing it and why they're doing it," Leavitt replied.

Asked again which states and how much money each is skimming, Leavitt declined. "To the extent that we have the information available, senator, I'll he happy to."

"You should have it," Baucus interrupted. "If you don't have it that says something right off the top."