Association Urges CMS to Maintain Medicaid Payments as Congress Intended

In a July 21 letter to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), America's Essential Hospitals responded to the agency's proposed Medicaid Managed Care State Directed Payments (SDP) and Medicaid Fee-For-Service (FFS) Targeted Medicaid Practitioner Payments proposed rule.

The association is concerned that CMS proposes to cut critical Medicaid funding by far more than what Congress intended and to impose new restrictions that will limit states' ability to target payments.

Specifically, the association urged CMS to:

• Not cut SDPs and supplemental payments that support safety net providers by more than what Congress required
• Allow states that are closer to their Medicaid populations to determine how to target payments that advance Medicaid statutory goals
• Align the calculation of Medicare-based payment limits with the simpler process used in Medicaid FFS
• Withdraw new SDP cuts for types of SDPs and services not included in the Working Families Tax Cut legislation (WFTCL)
• Withdraw new restrictions on targeted FFS practitioner payments
• Adopt a more gradual phase-down methodology for grandfathered SDPs
• Improve transparency and accountability by preserving separate payment terms and reducing redundant reporting

Contact Director of Policy Rob Nelb, MPH, at [email protected] or 202.585.0127 with questions.