The Washington, D.C.-based National Rural Health Association and several health systems, hospitals, academic health centers, and state hospital associations have called on lawmakers to help restore the partnership between CMS and states to align with laws passed by Congress and to allow states to properly fund Medicaid programs based on their specific state and local requirements.
The April 9 letter, obtained by Becker's, is addressed to U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer, Senate majority leader; Rep. Mike Johnson, speaker of the House; Sen. Mitch McConnell, Senate minority leader; and Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, House minority leader.
Some of the letter co-signers included Downers Grove, Ill.-based Advocate Aurora, St. Louis-based Ascension, Cleveland Clinic, the New Jersey Hospital Association, and Marriottsville, Md.-based Bon Secours.
At issue is the Medicaid Fiscal Accountability Proposed Rule, which would have made significant changes to Medicaid financing and was withdrawn in 2020 after a broad array of stakeholders and members of Congress opposed it. The letter's co-signers claim that despite withdrawing the rule, CMS continues to use the Medicaid financing policies that were included in the proposed rule.
"Unfortunately, in recent years, CMS has departed from the statute and attempted to redefine Medicaid's long-standing state and federal partnership, specifically with regards to states' financing of their Medicaid programs," the letter said. "CMS continues to overreach and delay or deny program approvals based on arbitrary and unsupported interpretations of federal law."
The letter provided specific examples of the threat the signatories say CMS is imposing on American healthcare by "continuing to overstep its authority," and asked CMS to return to its state funding approach that existed prior to 2019 and get rid of all MFAR policies.
NRHA and the co-signers expressed availability in the letter to discuss their concerns with the lawmakers.