Nine hospital groups, including the American Hospital Association and the Association of American Medical Colleges, sent a letter (pdf) to Congress asking that Medicaid cuts not be used as a means to pay for the student loan bill.
Starting July 1, federal student loan interest rates will double for millions of American students and families. The hospital groups acknowledged that allowing student loan interest rates to balloon would be "devastating," but a fix should not come on the heels of Medicaid, which "serves more than 59 million people and has been subject to significant cuts at the state level," according to the letter.
One option to offset the student loan interest hike included a provision that would reduce the Medicaid provider assessment rate from 6 percent to 5.5 percent starting in 2013. This Medicaid provider tax would also be cut from 5.5 percent to 3.5 percent from fiscal year 2015 to FY 2017. The Medicaid provider assessment threshold allows hospitals and other organizations to obtain matching federal funds for their state's Medicaid program.
"Improvements must be made to the Medicaid program; we must find a way to make the program more efficient while maintaining high-quality healthcare for low-income Americans," the groups wrote. "A cut to the program through reductions in the allowable provider assessment rate will not achieve this goal."
Starting July 1, federal student loan interest rates will double for millions of American students and families. The hospital groups acknowledged that allowing student loan interest rates to balloon would be "devastating," but a fix should not come on the heels of Medicaid, which "serves more than 59 million people and has been subject to significant cuts at the state level," according to the letter.
One option to offset the student loan interest hike included a provision that would reduce the Medicaid provider assessment rate from 6 percent to 5.5 percent starting in 2013. This Medicaid provider tax would also be cut from 5.5 percent to 3.5 percent from fiscal year 2015 to FY 2017. The Medicaid provider assessment threshold allows hospitals and other organizations to obtain matching federal funds for their state's Medicaid program.
"Improvements must be made to the Medicaid program; we must find a way to make the program more efficient while maintaining high-quality healthcare for low-income Americans," the groups wrote. "A cut to the program through reductions in the allowable provider assessment rate will not achieve this goal."
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