High Finance Government Style
March 18, 2011 - by
It’s hard to make heads or tails of this: The Republican Legislature raises taxes on hospitals $215 million – and the hospitals are delighted, tickled to death. In fact, newspapers report, the legislature raised the ‘tax’ at the request of the Hospital Association.
The explanation gets even stranger. And more confusing: The $215 million tax – again, according to the newspapers – is going to be spent to “draw down” federal matching funds for Medicaid, which somehow means after the hospitals pay the tax they will receive $370 million (and the State Department of Health will get $43 million) in Medicaid payments from the federal government.
So it looks like the hospitals come out $155 million ahead, state government comes out $43 million ahead and Washington is out $413 million which, according to the hospitals, is only fair as it helps ease the terrific burden they bear for caring for Medicaid patients.
What’s more, Governor Perdue can’t even criticize her Republican opponents for raising taxes – because she’s for the deal too.
It remains to be seen what our Congressmen-and-women in Washington make of this paradigm of high finance government style which adds $413 million to their $1.5 trillion deficit.
High Finance Government Style
March 18, 2011/
It’s hard to make heads or tails of this: The Republican Legislature raises taxes on hospitals $215 million – and the hospitals are delighted, tickled to death. In fact, newspapers report, the legislature raised the ‘tax’ at the request of the Hospital Association.
The explanation gets even stranger. And more confusing: The $215 million tax – again, according to the newspapers – is going to be spent to “draw down” federal matching funds for Medicaid, which somehow means after the hospitals pay the tax they will receive $370 million (and the State Department of Health will get $43 million) in Medicaid payments from the federal government.
So it looks like the hospitals come out $155 million ahead, state government comes out $43 million ahead and Washington is out $413 million which, according to the hospitals, is only fair as it helps ease the terrific burden they bear for caring for Medicaid patients.
What’s more, Governor Perdue can’t even criticize her Republican opponents for raising taxes – because she’s for the deal too.
It remains to be seen what our Congressmen-and-women in Washington make of this paradigm of high finance government style which adds $413 million to their $1.5 trillion deficit.