President Bush Signs War Funding Bill That Delays Medicaid Rules

President Bush on Monday signed into law a supplemental war funding package that includes a domestic spending amendment to delay implementation of six Medicaid regulations, CongressDaily reports. The Senate approved the measure last week, and the House approved it earlier in June (Sanchez, CongressDaily, 6/30).

The six Medicaid rule changes -- issued by the Bush administration -- aim to delay services covered by some states' case management plans; limit Medicaid reimbursement to public hospitals; bar federal reimbursement for transportation to school and school-based care for Medicaid-eligible children; restrict the types of "rehabilitative" services covered by federal funding; reduce federal Medicaid reimbursement for students at teaching hospitals; and limit the taxes that some states charge health providers.


Norman DeLisle, MDRC
"With Liberty and Access for All!"
GrandCentral: 517-589-4081
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Statement By Mike Leavitt Secretary Of Health And Human Services On Two Medicaid Rules, USA

The Administration has been asked several times the impact of implementing two Medicaid rules when an existing moratorium expires May 25, 2008.

1. Graduate Medical Education -- CMS 2279 -- proposed rule published on May 23, 2007; and

2. Cost limit for Providers Operated by Units of Government and Provisions to Ensure the Integrity of Federal-State Financial Partnership -- CMS 2259-FC -- final rule with comment period, published on May 29, 2007.

In response, Secretary Michael O. Leavitt released the following statement today:

"I reiterate the Administration's willingness to work with Congress and Governors to discuss their concerns before the rules go into effect," Secretary Leavitt said. "We will voluntarily refrain from making these rules effective until August 1, 2008, more than 60 days after the moratorium expires. I invite interested parties to sit down with me and my staff in the coming weeks to ensure that we meet our mutual commitments to protect health care for low-income individuals."

Norman DeLisle, MDRC
"With Liberty and Access for All!"
GrandCentral: 517-589-4081
MDRC Website: http://www.copower.org/
LTC Blog: http://ltcreform.blogspot.com/
Recovery: http://therecoveringlife.blogspot.com/
Change: http://prosynergypsc.blogspot.com/

Leavitt: Bush would approve delay of two Medicaid regulations

The Bush administration would accept a moratorium on two of seven proposed Medicaid regulations, Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt said this week.

Speaking Tuesday, Leavitt said that the president would be willing to delay a rule on reimbursement for graduate medical education (GME) and a regulation curtailing the use intergovernmental transfers (IGT) to healthcare facilities, including nursing homes. The plan so far has the support of only 14 Republican senators, according to the Bureau of National Affairs. It would delay the GME and IGT rules until August, with a possibility of further delays until March 2009. The IGT regulation is considered one of the harshest regulations for nursing homes.

The Congressional Budget Office estimates that not implementing the seven Medicaid rules could cost more than $42 billion to federal taxpayers over the next 10 years, according to BNA. Other reports, however, have shown that the seven rules, if imposed, would cost roughly $50 billion to the states over five years. A one-year moratorium on the seven rules has already passed the House with a veto-proof margin, though it is not clear if the Senate can accomplish a similar feat.