They say it’s your birthday
Medicaid turns 60 this week, and we’re honoring its legacy
For six decades, Medicaid has provided essential health coverage to millions of Americans. The public insurance offering has improved lives and strengthened our nation’s health and economy. With H.R.1’s unprecedented cuts to Medicaid, we’re more committed than ever to ensuring health care access for all, especially the most vulnerable.
The Rural Health Transformation Fund: What States and Providers Need to Know (and Do) Now.
To offset deep cuts to federal Medicaid funding in H.R.1., Congress made a late addition to the final budget reconciliation legislation: a $50 billion Rural Health Transformation Fund to be distributed to states during fiscal years 2026-2030.
Half of the rural transformation funds will be distributed equally among all states with approved transformation plans; the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has discretion over both plan approvals and how to distribute the second half of the funding.
Even if every penny of the $50 billion, which states must spend in full by Oct. 1, 2032, were directed to rural hospitals, it would not be enough to fill the $70 billion funding gap created by H.R.1. Further, there are no guarantees that all those dollars will go to rural providers, much less rural hospitals.
Forthcoming CMS guidance and its approach to allocating federal funds to states are crucial to states and their rural providers. States are working quickly to secure their share of the $50 billion and to develop plans to use the funds as strategically as possible to mitigate the impact of H.R.1 on rural communities.
Keep reading at The 80 Million.
ICYMI: Medicaid Impacts of H.R.1 – You Asked, We Answered
The Congressional Budget Office estimates that H.R.1, which President Trump enacted on July 4, will reduce federal Medicaid funding over the next decade by more than a trillion dollars. Some of the largest changes in direct federal funding include:
-$325.6 billion in federal funding reductions for coverage terminations due to work requirements
-$225.7 billion in federal funding reductions related to provider taxes and waiver of uniform tax requirement provisions
-$149.4 billion in federal funding reductions attached to state-directed payment changes that will reduce payment to hospitals and other providers
-$121.9 billion in federal funding reductions for the delay of select Biden-era eligibility and enrollment final rule provisions
-$62.5 billion in federal funding reductions due to coverage terminations related to more frequent eligibility redeterminations
-$104.5 billion in federal cuts attached to all other Medicaid provisions
An increase in federal funding of $50 billion for a new rural health transformation fund
80 Million readers wanted to know how we think states will approach the new work requirement mandate. Will most states seek approval to delay implementation? Or, conversely, to accelerate implementation?
Keep reading at The 80 Million.
CMS approved a new 1115 demonstration that allows Arkansas to receive FFP for Medicaid state plan services provided to adult enrollees who are in institutions for mental disease for substance use disorder or serious mental illness treatment. The federal agency also approved Arkansas’ five-year extension for the state’s Arkansas Tax Equity and Fiscal Responsibility Act (TEFRA)-like Section 1115 Demonstration, which provides coverage of services, in home settings, to children with certain disabilities who would otherwise be at risk of or require institutional care and who would also otherwise be eligible for Medicaid under section 134 of the Tax Equity and Fiscal Responsibility Act.
Minnesota’s Department of Human Services announced expedited criteria for the disability determinations by the State Medical Review Team (SMRT), along with a new SMRT expedited referrals team unit. SMRT determines disability status for individuals not certified as disabled by the Social Security Administration, in order to establish eligibility for Medicaid.
Montana’s Department of Public Health and Human Services released its proposed 1115 Medicaid demonstration application for public review. The application will request federal authority for enrollees to be subject to work requirements and cost sharing as a condition of Medicaid enrollment in accordance with H.R.1 and the Montana Code.
Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) officials convened to explain forthcoming adjustments to Medicaid payment rates for Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA), effective Aug. 1.
Judge Indefinitely Blocks Withholding of Medicaid Funds to Planned Parenthood – The New York Times
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