Delayed Medicaid Payments Force Hospitals To Make Tough Decisions
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has been unusually slow at processing state-directed payments, leading hospitals to withhold their own payments to medical suppliers and to trim staff. Plus, a look at the wrangling over Medicaid changes on Capitol Hill.
The Wall Street Journal:
U.S. Delays Hospital Payments As Medicaid Scrutiny Intensifies
Unexpected delays in billions of dollars of supplemental Medicaid payments have forced some hospitals across the country to cut costs including laying off staff and pausing payments to medical suppliers. Hospital associations in at least 10 states said the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the federal agency responsible for approving funds known as state-directed payments, has been unusually slow at processing applications for them. Some of the delays date to the fall of 2024. (Mosbergen, 5/2)
The Hill:
House Conservatives Call For Controversial Medicaid Changes In Reconciliation
A group of House conservatives is calling for significant “structural reforms” of Medicaid as part of the Republican reconciliation legislation, illustrating the seemingly intractable differences across GOP factions. In a “Dear Colleague” letter led by Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) and signed by 19 others, the lawmakers said the GOP conference must pursue “meaningful reforms” in reconciliation, including eliminating the enhanced federal matching funds for states that expanded Medicaid. (Weixel, 5/1)
The Washington Post:
Republican Medicaid Cuts Could Mean ‘Armageddon’ In D.C., Official Says
D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D), her staff and health-care providers have been lobbying Congress for months to stave off Medicaid cuts that one top city official said would amount to “Armageddon” for low-income residents and wreak havoc on the region’s health network. House Republican proposals to slash government spending on Medicaid would devastate the insurance program that covers 40 percent of District residents and makes it possible for hospitals and clinics to care for the most vulnerable, they say. Under one scenario, D.C. could lose $1.1 billion, forcing the city to drop some residents from the rolls and scale back services for others. (Portnoy, 4/30)
Politico:
The White House Wants To Avoid Medicaid Cuts. To GOP Hard-Liners, They’re Essential.
The fate of Republicans’ sweeping domestic policy bill is snagged on a crucial question: Are deep cuts to Medicaid, the federal health care program covering nearly 80 million Americans, something to be avoided? Or are they the whole point of pursuing the legislation? That clash — with the White House on one side and GOP hard-liners in Congress on the other — is now playing out in closed-door meetings and in the hallways of Capitol Hill as the party rushes to write the megabill and potentially cut more than a half-trillion dollars from the safety-net health program over the coming decade. (Cancryn, Leonard and Lee Hill, 5/1)
KFF Health News:
Government Watchdog Expects Medicaid Work Requirement Analysis By Fall
The country’s top nonpartisan government watchdog has confirmed it is examining the costs of running the nation’s only active Medicaid work requirement program, as Republican state and federal lawmakers consider similar requirements. The U.S. Government Accountability Office told KFF Health News that its analysis of the Georgia Pathways to Coverage program could be released this fall. (Whitehead and Rayasam, 5/2)
In rural health news from Capitol Hill —
Fierce Healthcare:
Senators Introduce RPM Access Act To Increase Rural Payment Rate
Wednesday, Senators Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., and Mark Warner, D-Va., introduced a bill that would increase reimbursement for remote monitoring in rural areas. Representatives David Kustoff, R-Tenn., Mark Pocan D-Wis., Troy Balderson, R-Ohio, and Don Davis, D-N.C., also introduced the Rural Patient Monitoring Access Act in the House, which would expand access to remote patient monitoring in rural areas, where low payment rates discourage providers and RPM companies from providing services. (Beavins, 5/1)
