WASHINGTON WIRE
January 25, 2008
Issue 157
In this issue, you'll find:
Stakeholders Push for Increase in Medicaid Match Rate in Stimulus Package
SCHIP Override Votes Falls Again in House
CMS Proposes Bump in Medicare Payments to Long-Term Acute Care Hospitals
Top Story
Stakeholders Push for Increase in Medicaid Match Rate in Stimulus Package
On Thursday, House leaders and Treasury Secretary Paulson announced an economic stimulus package that, much to the disappointment of Medicaid advocates, did not include an increase in the Medicaid Federal Medical Assistance Percentage (FMAP).
Many stakeholders, including the National Governors Association (NGA), are advocating for a temporary increase in the federal Medicaid match as a means of assisting states and Medicaid beneficiaries during an expected economic downturn when states may be forced to make cuts to their Medicaid programs.
The Bush Administration, along with many Congressional Republicans, does not support a temporary FMAP increase in a stimulus package and the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has given such an increase a "medium rating" for its cost-effectiveness in increasing economic demand to ward off a downturn.
Senate Finance Committee Chairman, Max Baucus (D-MT), stated Thursday that his committee will mark up their own stimulus package next week and, while he would like to move forward quickly on a bipartisan bill, state fiscal relief is still on the table. Several Committee Members are encouraging the Chairman to include a temporary FMAP increase.
House Speaker Pelosi (D-CA) stated that if the economy were to worsen, the House would attempt additional legislation that could include Medicaid assistance to states.
Health Care News
SCHIP Override Votes Fails Again in House
The House again this week, failed to override a Presidential veto on legislation to reauthorize and invest an additional $35 billion in the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP).
The legislation, approved by the Congress last year, was the second SCHIP bill to be vetoed by President Bush, who opposed major increases in SCHIP funding levels. The President signed legislation in December to extend the current SCHIP funding levels until 2009.
Speaker Pelosi (D-CA) stated this week that Congress would continue to focus on an SCHIP expansion this year with the goal of covering 10 million uninsured children.
CMS Proposes Bump in Medicare Payments to Long-Term Acute Care Hospitals
On Tuesday, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released a proposed rule to increase Medicare payments to long-term acute care hospitals (LTCHs) by 2.6% beginning July 1, 2008.
Last year, the final rule for LTCH prospective payment system (PPS) lowered Medicare payments by 3.8%, but the Medicare, Medicaid, and SCHIP Extension Act of 2007, signed into law in December, provided a freeze in their payment update for the last quarter of 2008. CMS states that as a result of the provisions in the Medicare extenders bill, it will delay a permanent adjustment to LTCH payments but plans to cut the market basket by 0.9%, which results in the 2.6% increase, rather than a higher, 3.5% update.
The rule also proposes to coordinate all LTCH annual payment changes. In the past, LTCHs have received changes to the market basket in January and to the long-term care Diagnosis Related Groups (DRGs) in April. But the proposed rule would, instead, make all annual payment update changes effective on October 1st. This will require that the 2009 rate be extended for 15 months, from July 1, 2008 through September 30, 2009.
The proposed rule is scheduled for publication in the January 29 Federal Register and can be viewed on the CMS website at
http://www.cms.hhs.gov/LongTermCareHospitalPPS/downloads/CMS-1393-P.pdf.
Upcoming Events
Hearings
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Early Detection of Cancer
House Oversight and Government Reform Committee
9:45 a.m., 2154 Rayburn
Veterans Affairs' Patient Safety
House Veterans' Affairs - Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations
10 a.m., 340 Cannon
Americans with Disabilities Act
House Education and Labor Committee
10 a.m., 2175 Rayburn
Covering Uninsured Children
House Energy and Commerce - Subcommittee on Health
10 a.m., 2128 Rayburn
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Medicare Private Fee-for-Service Plans
Senate Finance Committee
10 a.m., 215 Dirksen
Thursday, January 31, 2008
Health Care Spending
Senate Budget Committee
10 a.m., 608 Dirksen
For More Information
For further information on any topics discussed or publications listed, or to get copies of anything mentioned in this alert, please call 202.466.6550 and ask for the Legislative Practice Group.
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