are block grants unconstitutional
Experience with far smaller block-grant programs such as the Children's Health Insurance Program suggests that allotment disputes and shortfalls are ongoing problems that almost certainly would grow bigger given the hundreds of billions of dollars in federal funding at stake in Medicaid annually. For these groups and services, it would replace Medicaid's open-ended financing structure with a block grant that would allocate a fixed sum to each state; these allotments would be allowed to grow over time only in accordance with a specified formula, at a rate well below that of medical inflation. The Budget Resolutions passed by each House of Congress in late March, though nonbinding, assume enactment of some version of the proposal, and Hatch and Upton chair the Senate Finance Committee and the House Energy and Commerce Committee, respectively, two of Congress's most powerful health committees. Second, it would end Medicaid's historical entitlement to comprehensive coverage for low-income children, pregnant women, and families with dependent children, along with the entitlement to long-term care services and support for elderly or disabled Medicaid beneficiaries. A three-judge Shawnee County District Court panel ruled Friday that block grant school funding, one of the signature issues for conservatives in the Legislature, is unconstitutional. The court ruled block grants violate Article 6 of the Kansas Constitution, which requires the state to adequately fund public education. A three-judge Shawnee County District Court panel ruled block grant school funding in Kansas is unconstitutional. Credit Sam Zeff / KCUR. On the 114th and final day of the Kansas legislative session, a court ruling feared by lawmakers and eagerly anticipated by most educators was handed down.   . block grants. categorical grant. commerce clause. cooperative federalism. devolution. elastic clause. federalism. line-item vote. mcculloch vs. maryland. necessary and proper clause. new deal. nullification. reapportionment. sovereign immunity. spending clause. supremacy clause. unfunded mandates. The panel did not throw out the block grant idea entirely. The judges suggested block grants would be constitutional if the Legislature provided more money. Specifically, the court said if lawmakers use so-called weighted enrollment rather than actual enrollment, block grants might pass constitutional muster. The Patient CARE Act would repeal the insurance reforms of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and substantially scale back its insurance-premium tax subsidies. In addition, in the name of modernizing and reforming Medicaid, it would fundamentally restructure the program. cooperative federalism. a concept of federalism in which national, state, and local governments interact cooperatively and collectively to solve common problems, rather than making policies separately but more or less equally (such as the nineteenth century's dual federalism).
Yes