Long Terms Care Organizations Praise Leading Senators’ Opposition to Medicaid Cuts
Momentum to Stop CMS Rule Implementation
Gaining
Ground in Both U.S. Senate, House
Contact:
Donna Doneski, AHCA/NCAL, (202) 898-6321
For Immediate Release
March 28, 2007
Washington, DC –The American Health Care Association (AHCA) and National Center for Assisted Living (NCAL) today praised the efforts of key Senate leadership opposing a proposed rule from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) that they say will destabilize Medicaid in a manner that will impede the ability of providers to “offer high quality health care, especially in rural areas… and undermine both the federal-state partnership and the shared goal of ensuring health care coverage and access.”
In a bipartisan letter to Health & Human Services (HHS) Secretary Michael Leavitt, U.S. Senators Jay Rockefeller (D-WV), Gordon Smith (R-OR), and 58 of their Senate colleagues urged the Secretary to withdraw a proposed rule, CMS-2258-P. Also, on March 22, Senator Richard Durbin (D-IL) successfully amended a supplemental spending bill that would place a two-year moratorium on implementation of this proposed Medicaid rule.
“AHCA maintains a strong desire to work cooperatively with the Administration to bolster Medicaid’s financial stability, but we simply cannot fathom how this proposed rule will help do so,” stated Bruce Yarwood, President and CEO of AHCA. “We are very pleased to see growing bipartisan opposition in the Senate and the House to what ultimately amounts to substantial Medicaid cuts, and we will continue to aggressively pursue this matter on Capitol Hill with our growing number of congressional allies.”
The Rockefeller-Smith letter to Secretary Leavitt, which was cosigned by more than half of the U.S. Senate, states:
“The new proposed rule would usurp state flexibility and fundamentally alter the nature of state funding for the Medicaid program. We are particularly concerned with three aspects of the proposed rule: 1) the new definition of a “unit of government;” 2) the restrictions placed on states’ ability to fund their share of Medicaid expenditures; and 3) the “cost” limit imposed on Medicaid provider payments.
We are also alarmed by CMS’ refusal to provide any state-specific data on the impact of this proposed rule, which we believe could be much greater than a $5 billion reduction in federal Medicaid spending.… While we are willing to work with you and CMS to strengthen Medicaid, fundamental changes in Medicaid’s financing and payment mechanisms as envisioned can only be adopted by Congress. For this reason, we request that you withdraw the regulation.”
A similar letter was sent to Leavitt last week from Representative John Dingell (D-MI), Chairman of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce; Representative Frank Pallone (D-NJ), Chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s Health Subcommittee; Representative Henry Waxman (D-CA), Chairman of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform; Senator Max Baucus (D-MT), Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee; and Senator Jay Rockefeller (D-WV), Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee’s Health Subcommittee. The letter reads in part:
“As the Chairmen of the House and Senate committees and subcommittees with jurisdiction over both the Medicaid program and the Health and Human Services’ administration or its oversight, we have grave concerns about the proposed rule (CMS-2258-P) entitled,“Medicaid Program; Cost Limit for Providers Operated by Units of Government and Provisions to Ensure the Integrity of Federal-State Financial Partnership,” issued January 18, 2007, and its effects on safety net providers throughout the country.… As currently proposed, the rules to implement this provision are not sufficiently clear and in addition will result in unintended harmful consequences.
Lastly, in yet another letter sent last week to Secretary Leavitt, more than 150 Members of the House of Representatives have called for withdrawl of the proposed rule. AHCA/NCAL will continue to monitor this issue and its impact on the millions of Americans who rely on Medicaid for long term care.
The American Health Care Association (AHCA) and National Center for Assisted Living (NCAL) represents nearly 11,000 non-profit and proprietary facilities dedicated to continuous improvement in the delivery of professional and compassionate care provided daily by millions of caring employees to 1.5 million of our nation’s frail, elderly and disabled citizens who live in nursing facilities, assisted living residences, subacute centers and homes for persons with mental retardation and developmental disabilities. For more information, please visit www.ahca.org.