The House and Senate have approved an emergency supplemental spending bill (Conference Report to HR 1591) for Afghanistan and Iraq that includes a one-year moratorium on a proposed rule that would cut $4 billion from the Medicaid program over five years. The proposed Medicaid rule (published January 18, 2007) would limit payments to government health care providers and alter state financing mechanisms as well. The bill also contains a proposal to restrict Medicaid payments for graduate medical education.
SCHIP funding
In addition, the 2007 Emergency Supplemental Funding bill would provide funds to address expected budget shortfalls for the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) in 14 states and allow Wisconsin to continue to operate its SeniorCare prescription drug program for low-income seniors, for an additional 30 months. The Senate voted 51 to 46 on April 26, 2007 and the House voted 218 to 208 the previous day. President Bush has said he will veto the legislation due to the inclusion of a timeline for bringing U.S. troops home.
“Tens of thousands of children across this country will lose their health care in the next several months if nothing is done,” said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada. “That's why we provide more than $650 million to keep the State Children's Health,” he said. Sen. Robert Byrd (D-W.Va.) added that “$650 million for the S-CHIP child health program to deal with the shortfall in fourteen states is not pork barrel spending. Ask the parents with sick children.”
But Senate Finance Committee ranking member Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) said the provision to prevent CMS from implementing the cost-limitation rule “encourages states to push the envelope on payment schemes.” The provision will encourage states to offer payment schemes that CMS has previously disallowed as being inappropriate, he said. “It will encourage litigation if CMS tries to assert that they do still maintain jurisdiction,” he warned. Grassley added that Congress has not held hearings on why the rule should be stopped.
Moreover, Grassley said the extension of the Wisconsin pharmacy plus waiver is unnecessary. Every state but Wisconsin has changed its pharmacy assistance program as required under the Medicare Modernization Act of 2003 (MMA)(PubLNo 108-173). He said Wisconsin will be providing many poor seniors with less of a benefit than they could get through Part D, noting that Wisconsin charges greater cost-sharing than Medicare for low income seniors.
Source: CCH Washington Bureau, April 26, 2007.
For more information on this and related topics, consult the CCH® Medicare and Medicaid Guide.
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