In response to provider lawsuits on low Medicaid reimbursements, which will be heard by the Supreme Court, HHS plans to issue new rules clarifying how much state Medicaid programs must pay hospitals and other providers, according to a report by The Hill.
HHS is expected to release a notice of proposed rulemaking next month and a final rule by December. The providers' lawsuits claim Medicaid reimbursements have severely limited recipients' access to providers, an alleged violation of the Medicaid law.
HHS officials had hoped their upcoming rules would avert a Supreme Court decision on the matter. The rules "may well resolve the disagreement among the circuits on these issues, making this Court's review unnecessary," the Obama administration said in a brief before the high court in December. However, the Supreme Court recently agreed to take up the issue, and arguments are expected in the fall.
GOP lawmakers rush to states' defense
The anticipated HHS rules have Congressional Republicans complaining that the government is dogging state Medicaid programs from two directions: first, by holding them to federal standards on who is eligible for Medicaid and then possibly forcing them to raise Medicaid reimbursements.
Washington is now "planning to impose new reimbursement mandates on state Medicaid programs," according to an internal GOP memo obtained by The Hill. "It's possible – perhaps even likely – that on top of the mandates on states not to constrain eligibility standards, HHS will now pile on another federal mandate when it comes to reimbursement levels."
Read The Hill report on Medicaid.
Read more coverage of states' effort to cut Medicaid programs.
- GOP Governors Criticize Reform Law for Stopping Deep Medicaid Cuts
- South Carolina Senate OKs $125M in Cuts to Physicians, Hospitals
- GOP Leaders Make Plans to Defund Reform, Cut Medicare, Medicaid
HHS is expected to release a notice of proposed rulemaking next month and a final rule by December. The providers' lawsuits claim Medicaid reimbursements have severely limited recipients' access to providers, an alleged violation of the Medicaid law.
HHS officials had hoped their upcoming rules would avert a Supreme Court decision on the matter. The rules "may well resolve the disagreement among the circuits on these issues, making this Court's review unnecessary," the Obama administration said in a brief before the high court in December. However, the Supreme Court recently agreed to take up the issue, and arguments are expected in the fall.
GOP lawmakers rush to states' defense
The anticipated HHS rules have Congressional Republicans complaining that the government is dogging state Medicaid programs from two directions: first, by holding them to federal standards on who is eligible for Medicaid and then possibly forcing them to raise Medicaid reimbursements.
Washington is now "planning to impose new reimbursement mandates on state Medicaid programs," according to an internal GOP memo obtained by The Hill. "It's possible – perhaps even likely – that on top of the mandates on states not to constrain eligibility standards, HHS will now pile on another federal mandate when it comes to reimbursement levels."
Read The Hill report on Medicaid.
Read more coverage of states' effort to cut Medicaid programs.
- GOP Governors Criticize Reform Law for Stopping Deep Medicaid Cuts
- South Carolina Senate OKs $125M in Cuts to Physicians, Hospitals
- GOP Leaders Make Plans to Defund Reform, Cut Medicare, Medicaid