Medicaid Changes; Should Be Suspended Until Change In Administration, Senate Budget Chair Says

Changes in Medicaid rules proposed last week by the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services should be suspended until the next presidential administration, Senate Budget Committee Chair Kent Conrad (D-N.D.) said Tuesday, CongressDaily reports. Conrad said that a moratorium on four Medicaid regulations could be extended into the next Congress for $1 billion. He added that a longer suspension of the rule changes would be difficult to enact because it would cost $15 billion (Johnson, CongressDaily, 2/27).

The new rules would reduce federal payments for public hospitals, teaching hospitals and services for the disabled, among others. The rule changes would allow states to offer alternative benefit packages called "benchmark" plans, which would provide Medicaid beneficiaries with health coverage that has the same value as plans offered to other individuals in the same state. The proposed rule changes also would allow states to revise existing premium and cost-sharing plans to make them more similar to those allowed under SCHIP.

According to CMS, the rule changes are in line with the Bush administration's "goals of aligning Medicaid more closely with private market insurance and giving states more control over their Medicaid benefits packages." State governors and congressional Democrats have criticized the proposed changes, claiming they would shift billions of dollars in costs to the states, which could lead to cutbacks in services (Daily Women's Health Policy Report, 2/25).

On Tuesday, five governors testified before the House Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee against the proposed rule changes. Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour (R) said that he appreciates the Bush administration's moratorium on some Medicaid rules, adding, "It would suit us if you would do that for some of the (other) rules." Georgia Gov. Sonny Purdue (R), Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick (D), Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland (D) and Washington state Gov. Christine Gregoire (D) also testified at the hearing (CongressDaily, 2/27).

CMS' proposed changes, which would implement provisions of a 2006 budget reconciliation bill (PL 109-171) and a 2006 package to extend tax provisions (PL 109-432), have a 30-day public comment period (Daily Women's Health Policy Report, 2/25).