‘NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED’ is the crux of any resolution.  In this case, there are 4 key directives.   They  tell us what is going to be done.  All the ‘whereases’ are justifications.

The day before yesterday the  Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP) released its report which claries the fiscal impact , if any, of the expansion of Medicaid.  Click here to see the entire report.

Poverty Guidelines

10 Components of the Healthcare Bill

In talking this out, why do we need a resolution to do any of this?  Just do it over time and report back.  Can’t the BOCS just direct Ms. Peacor to make a statement after the dust has settled and the ink has dried on the Legislation?   isn’t that what is supposed to happen anyway?

Why all the fanfare?  Why the proclamations from the court house steps and from the Tea Party Rally?  Creating an Opt Out Resolution which doesn’t even opt out  seems like bad business as usual.  What is the price tag for all this investigation?  What is the price tag for pulling people off of their regular jobs to do all this busy work?

The red print is from Moonhowlings.

The Directives from the ‘Resolution:’

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that Prince William Board of County Supervisors requests that the Department of Social Services, assisted by County staff:

1.     Estimate the additional population eligible for Medicaid in Prince William County as of January 1, 2014 according to the provisions of the PPAC and the regulations which will probably be promulgated by the federal government to implement the PPAC; and

It will be difficult to estimate the county demographics for Jan. 1, 2014.  The best we will be able to do is estimation. Estimations may be extrapolated from other existing data.  However, the estimations  are not exact.  Furthermore there are benefits that cannot easily be quantified:

According to News and Messenger:

The 2008 American Community Survey reported that [the county’s] poverty rate was 5.2 percent in 2008, less than half the statewide rate of 10.2 percent and about one third the national rate of 13.2 percent,” according to the quarterly report.

The county’s median household income in 2008, according to ACS figures, was $88,724, leading to its rank of 16th in terms of wealth among the largest counties in the United States. Per capita income in the county for 2008, meanwhile, came in at $36,049, according to the quarterly report.

2.      Estimate the additional financial burden to the County taxpayers for additional administration of benefits for the newly expanded, less-sensitive population; and

What is a less-sensitive population?  A family of 4 making $29,000 is hardly rolling in the lap of luxury.  What is involved in administering Medicaid?  Processing an application, verifying eligibility, enrolling the person/family into the Medicaid program according to the guidelines is pretty much it.  Is there a hidden process we don’t know about?

  • The additional cost to the states represents only a 1.25 percent increase in what states would have spent on Medicaid from 2014 to 2019 in the absence of health reform.
  • The federal government will assume 96 percent of the costs of the Medicaid expansion over the next ten years, according to an analysis of CBO estimates.
  • And having more people covered as a result of the Medicaid expansion and other provisions in the health reform law will reduce state and local governments’ current spending on other services for the uninsured, such as mental health services.

3.  . Work with private health care providers to estimate the magnitude of the reduction of

Working with private health care providers?  Which party will these providers belong to?  How will they be selected?  This information will be anecdotal at best.  Didn’t Linda Chavez warn us about using anecdotal  documentation rather than scientific data?

Why should we expect there to be a reduction of available health care options for the Medicaid population?

Why isn’t the BOCS attempting to bring more medical services to the county?  Aren’t these businesses we are trying to attract?

4. Advise the Commonwealth and the federal government that unless additional resources are found at the federal and state levels of government to fund the administration of the expansion of Medicaid, that Prince William County will be forced to raise taxes on County residents or slash strategic services in order to fund eligibility workers to administer the massive expansion in the eligible population which will become effective on January 1, 2014 enrollment of newly covered beneficiaries.

Gobbledeegoop?  What did that paragraph just direct?  Talk about obsfucation.  Geez.

When will we advise the Commonwealth and the federal government?  According to the  CBPP study:

Contrary to claims made by health reform critics, the Medicaid expansion does not pose substantial financial burdens on states. The additional state spending that will result from the expansion is only 1.25 percent of what states would have spent in the absence of health reform, but it will cover 16 million more people, which will help reduce states’ costs for other programs and bring numerous other benefits to the states. The federal government will pick up most of the costs of the Medicaid expansion, overall making it a good deal for the states.

And…..(and let’s put that Peacor woman to work)

AND, BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Prince William BOCS directs the County Executive to:

  1. Estimate the increased cost burden the PPAC will have on the County’s provision of health insurance to its employees; and
  1. Provide comment to the Federal government as regulations and procedures are written which implement the Health Reform legislation in order to ensure that the impacts on local governments both from the significant expansion of Medicaid and from the implementation of other sections of the legislation are fully articulated.

22 Thoughts to “NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED…..”

  1. so we’re talking about what here. two or three intake workers? to dramatically increase health care to the truly needy????

    probably less expensive than video cameras in cop cars to peek in on arrests of suspected illegal aliens.

    what ever happened to these guys. they are Christian on demand. Jesus lite freaks.

    I’m a UU so not into eternal salvation or damnation, but there some way neat things that Jesus said and did…

    ”Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’ I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me. Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”

    Matthew 25:44-46

    how about we all agree to help people now, and be “righteous” in this life???

    b

  2. It seems that Stewart is making the argument that this is going to be very expensive, while others like the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP) and bruce are are saying it won’t be. Why not just have the county staff crunch the numbers (as directed in Stewart’s resolution) so that both sides can have an informed debate?

  3. Why do we need a resolution? There are plenty of number crunchers working for the county. If the BOCS can’t ask their executive director to research some numbers for them, then I totally have misunderstood the county form of government.

    Food, do you not see a difference in what Corey said when he was a cheered lion down in Stafford and now he is back home in PWC?

  4. Tom Andrews

    Moon,

    It’s just politics 101. R or D, shore up your base, speak to the crowd in the room, and then sprint to the center where most of the electorate lives. It’s just the way things are done.

  5. Starryflights

    Stewart is a scumbag pol hustling and groveling for votes.

  6. Moon-
    I absolutely see the difference. This is political BS by Stewart. But what should the Board do now? Vote down his resolution because he said some stupid stuff at a rally? If they vote down a resolution that directs the staff to calculate costs, doesn’t that send the message to the staff that the Board doesn’t want the costs calculated? Should they vote down the resolution to stick it to Stewart, then verbally direct the staff to do the exact same things that are requested by the resolution (i.e. calculate the costs)? Any other ideas?

  7. Tom Andrews

    That’s why they’re in a box. If they did that wouldn’t they open themselves up to the same criticisms of saying one thing and then doing another? (not that I beleive they would get bashed with as much enthusiasm)

  8. Censored bybvbl

    Perhaps the Board should emphasize that they have a few years until any intended changes are to take place and that a wise move would be to wait and see how the Commonwealth’s lawsuit fares.

  9. Why do they need a resolution? I feel like I am a broken record. Our BOCS doesn’t need a resolution to conduct a cost analysis.

    Why the urgency? This is political grandstanding.

    I don’t agree that this is how it is done. Why does Corey go to Stafford when he is a PWC supervisor? PWC people should be his base and even then, he should tell the truth and not make up crap.

    If this is the way it works, then things need to change big time! No wonder people are so pissed off. They have been lied to.

  10. Second-Alamo

    Gee, how come all this speculation on cost and effect? Don’t you folks listen to those in DC? I mean come on, Obama knows best, doesn’t he? He has it all thought out. Why he’ll be long gone from DC when the other shoe drops. Probably back in his true homeland for that matter.

  11. Starryflights

    Second-Alamo :Gee, how come all this speculation on cost and effect? Don’t you folks listen to those in DC? I mean come on, Obama knows best, doesn’t he? He has it all thought out. Why he’ll be long gone from DC when the other shoe drops. Probably back in his true homeland for that matter.

    “True homeland”? What do you mean by that? Are you one of those conspiracy nutcases who thinks Obama wasn’t born in the United States?

  12. Need to Know

    Corey has boxed himself in with a poorly-conceived stunt designed to motivate his base. Just look at the vast difference between Corey’s rhetoric in Stafford and the actual resolution. Other BOCS members must certainly have told him they would not vote to direct staff to violate the law. However, he can’t just drop this now that he has started it.

    Moon is absolutely right. The BOCS does not need a resolution to request a cost or budget analysis. They can simply direct the County Executive to do so at any of their meetings.

    I agree with Corey that the Obama/Reid/Pelosi health care legislation is bad and must be changed. It’s a budget and fiscal nightmare from the Federal level down to the County. However, another meaningless Prince William County resolution that will have no substantive impact whatsoever is the wrong way to go.

    Republicans must be the responsible, thoughtful leaders on this issue. The way to change the health care legislation is to elect strong Republicans, as well as fiscally-conservative independents and Democrats this November and in 2012. That means appealing to the vast majority of Americans who are truly concerned about the economic implications of this bill for themselves and their children. These are not the people who think we need a revolution, that the Democrats are Nazis, or that President Obama is not an American citizen. Appealing to that crowd will cause the Republicans to lose the vast middle ground and allow the Obama/Reid/Pelosi group to continue running the show.

    Republicans know that reform of the health care system is needed. Unfortunately, they shut themselves out of having a meaningful impact on the legislation by digging in their heels and appealing to a narrow, fringe base. This strategy is suicide both in terms of enacting good health care legislation that reflects Republican as well as Democratic priorities, and in terms of getting more Republicans elected to Congress.

    Corey – would Ronald Reagan say and do the things you have been lately? I don’t think so. Let’s forget about getting you elected Lieutenant Governor for a while and do what’s right for your Party, the citizens of Prince William County, and the American people.

  13. Moon-
    So your gripe is basically that Stewart grandstands? In other news, the sun rose this morning, the sky was blue, and your federal taxes were due on April 15…it seems your argument is for them to vote against the thing because Stewart’s behavior is bad–not because of what his proposed resolution actually says. If Board members start voting for or against things based on their personal differences with the person who brings forward the proposal, that could open a big can o worms.

  14. You missed the point. He called for something he isn’t doing for attention. You don’t need a resolution to direct your CXO to do a study for heavens sake! You tell them that is what you want. What is wrong with you Republicans that you think everything needs a resolution. Less government por favor!

  15. Moon-
    What point did I miss? I think you missed my point. I don’t disagree with anything you said. But, now that Stewart has introduced a resolution the Board has to act on it one way or the other. They can either vote for it or against it. I think the Board should vote for or against it based on the merits of what is actually in it. You seem to be suggesting that they vote it down because Stewart is a DB (to use terminology from another post).

    As I asked before, since a resolution is not required to direct the staff to do something, do you think the Board should vote it down and then verbally direct the staff to do the exact same thing that is requested in the resolution? Or do you disagree with the merits of the resolution as it is written?

    All I can gather from your comments so far is that Stewart is a grandstander. Tell me something I didn’t know. And by the way, when did I ever say I was a Republican? I seem to recall you get very angry when people on here assume you are Democrat.

  16. anona

    They do have an option other approve it or disapprove it. They can amend it to leave in the part about staff calculating the costs and leave out the grandstanding parts. Then after they have the numbers, they can look at it again if neccessary.

  17. It is a draft resolution. It has not been formally introduced. they should not act on it. It is foolishness.

    And to answer, no, they should vote against it and just ask Ms. Peacor to find out what they want to know. Perhaps later would be better than sooner..

    They aren’t going to start a job search for 3 more processing clerks tomorrow for something happening 1/1/14.

  18. Elena

    Also, I would like to know, what are the cost savings also. Why not add an amendment looking at cost vs savings. Can you quantify a healthier population and the benefits thereof? Futhermore, the feds ARE paying for the first decade. When does Corey plan on being able to do all this speculation and conjecture? Hopefully he won’t be Chairman in 2014. If this is going to be done, why not hire Brookings institute, is our staff in a position to redirect their efforts from their regular duties to this very complicated investigation?

    Playing Corey’s game is dangerous, plain and simple. I believe this Board did it once before. I would suggest, if this Board is going to vote in favor, add some amendments, take out the hyperbole and TELL Corey you are tired of his GRANDSTANDING! Tell him your are disappointed in his behavior and that you expect better!

  19. Food, Sorry for the hasty answer. I just see no point in making something a resolution when it is just as simple to say ‘find out the answer to these questions please. ‘

    I also think it is a political move rather than something that would benefit the county. We have 3.5 years to worry about the expanision of medicaid and I expect much will change between now and then. We might have a different president, different senators and congressmen and different supervisors. We will be ready to inaugurate a new governor. There will be a lot of information coming out and supervisors can talk to other supervisors from different localities as well as to state officials.

    Right now the Opt Out Resulution which doesnt opt out of anything is a draft. Just discuss the information, ask Ms. Peacor to report back in a few months and then look at the information.

    Back to my less government mantra….

  20. While it would be unfair to accuse PWC BOCS Chairman Corey Stewart of outright lying to the citizens of Prince William County, here are some things that Chairman Stewart has NOT told them:

    1. This program does not go into effect until 2014.
    2. Even then, The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) says the federal government will pay 96% of the cost to implement the program for the next ten years—that’s until 2025.
    3. The CBO also postulates that the additional cost to the states is only 1.25% more than they would have spent on Medicaid between 2014 and 2019.
    4. The people we are primarily talking about are ages 18 to 64 and are among the poorest of the poor.
    5. While I don’t know how many people in this age range fall between 100-133% of the FPL, they do make up 64.1% of Prince William County’s population or 252,791 people.
    6. Mr. Dennis E. McFeeley, Division Chief Benefits, Employment and Child Care Programs, PWC Department of Social Services says that about 15,200 of these people will be eligible for the expanded Medicaid program. He did not speculate on the cost for this expansion.

    To put this in perspective:

    · A single person at 100% of the Federal Poverty Level (FPL) earns $10,830 or less a year. At 133% of the FPL, their income is all the way up to $14,404 a year.

    · Average family size in Prince William County is 2.94 people. A family of three at 100% of the FPL earns $18,310 a year. At 133% of the FPL their income is a generous $24,353 a year–that is if the .94 person works.

    · The annual BOCS salary for the Chairman is $48,012. This is over 440% more than our single person at 100% of the FPL and 330% more than what a single person at 133% of the FPL makes.

    · For our mythical family of 2.9 persons, the numbers look like this: At 100% of the FPL the Chairman’s BOCS salary is 262% more than this family makes in a year. At 133% of the FPL, the Chairman’s salary is nearly double (197%) that of our family of 3.

    Some other interesting facts from Virginia’s Department of Medical Assistance Services from the department’s The Virginia Medicaid Program at a Glance, dated January 2008:

    · Despite a 21% growth in the number of people on Medicaid, Virginia’s eligibility criteria remain among the strictest in the nation. With population ranking Virginia as the 12th largest state (2006), Virginia is 22nd in the number of Medicaid recipients served, and are 47th in terms of Medicaid recipients as a percent of the total population (both rankings from 2005).

    · Virginia enjoys a higher than average per capita income (ranked 8th in 2007), Medicaid spending per recipient ranks 31st (2005) with spending per capita ranked near the lowest levels nationally at 48th (2007).

    Interestingly enough Prince William County was just ranked as the 14th richest county in the nation and Virginia has 5 of the richest 25 counties in the nation. If you count Fairfax City, Virginia has 6 of the richest counties in the nation with Fairfax City ranking fifth. The 2008 medical household income in the county was $88,724 according to the county’s own demographic data.

    It seems ironic to me that out of all of this wealth we apparently enjoy, the Chairman of our Board of County Supervisors is willing to continue to insure that Virginia (and by inference Prince William County) continues be one of the most parsimonious states in the nation.

    Finally–you don’t need a resolution to do this–a simple telephone call/email would do the trick. This is pure political posturing that I think will backfire on Stewart. He is working on his next job–lieutenant governor, delegate, senator or something else at the state level.

  21. Holy Catfish

    Very insightful George. Your comment really puts this whole issue into perspective for me.

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