Heineman says implementing federal health care reform will hurt education

In an Aug. 25 letter to state education leaders, Gov. Dave Heineman encouraged supporting the repeal of the federal health care reform bill passed in March.

Jen Rae Hein, communications director for the governor, said in an e-mail, “the letter is meant to outline the budget the state faces if we are required to proceed with the implementation of the federal health care law.”

Heineman’s letter states, “As you know, the three largest components of the State’s budget are state aid to education, the University of Nebraska and higher education, and Medicaid.

“Increased funding for Medicaid is likely to result in less funding for education.”

Democratic candidate for governor Mike Meister and his running mate Anne Boyle called the letter bullying and blackmail designed to support a partisan agenda.

The letter states, “If you sit silently by, I am going to assume that your lack of action is tacit support for increased Medicaid funding and the likely reduction in funding for education.”

Heineman’s letter cites figures from a study conducted by Milliman, Inc., an actuarial and consulting firm.

The Milliman study estimates that the Medicaid provisions required by the federal law will increase coverage from one in nine Nebraskans to one in five.

Democratic Sen. Ben Nelson also weighed in on the letter.

“The governor’s study is incomplete at best and intentionally misleading people at the worst,” he said.

Heineman said Nelson’s criticism is “partisan rhetoric [and] totally inappropriate.”

The governor’s office also provided a hyperlink to a 2010 University of Nebraska study that included an examination of state appropriation growth from 1986 to 2011.

The University of Nebraska study confirms Heineman’s statement in the letter. Medicaid appropriations grew 776 percent. K-12 education appropriations grew 450 percent. Appropriations grew 203 percent for state colleges and 288 percent for community colleges, and 186 percent for University of Nebraska.

In an interview with the Lincoln Journal-Star, Heineman said the study “shows very clearly that if Medicaid costs continue to increase, education funding is going to be hurt.”