Newt Gingrich has an op-ed in this morning’s Washington Post calling on Congress to transform the Medicaid program with legislation to bring it into the 21st century.

The name of the piece is “Transform It, Don’t Reform It.” Gingrich puts it all on the line, making no bones about the urgent need for truly radical reform:

The system is fundamentally broken, ensnaring the most vulnerable in our society in a cycle of dependence and poverty while failing to realize the benefits of emerging technologies and new capabilities in health and long-term care. Medicaid is beyond reform and cannot be fixed with small cuts and waivers from the bureaucracy….

Transforming Medicaid is a moral imperative.

His far-reaching, transformative proposal? Before you read any further, make sure you are sitting down. Okay, here it is:

He wants to divide Medicaid into “three distinct areas, each administered separately with its own rules and structures.”

Three distinct Medicaid programs, rather than just one!

But that’s not all. Gingrich also wants to change “[g]overnment budget rules and outdated scoring methods used by the Congressional Budget Office and the Office of Management and Budget” that “cannot distinguish between costs and investments.”

Wow. Three separate Medicaid programs and accounting changes at CBO and OMB. What vision! Gingrich ‘08!

[sarcasm off]

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