Washington, DC – The American Health Care Association / National Center for Assisted Living (AHCA/NCAL) praised the U.S. House of Representatives for passing the important, bipartisan Protecting the Medicaid Safety Net Act of 2008 (H.R. 5613) late yesterday, which would impose one-year moratoria on seven Medicaid regulations highly detrimental to care of America’s most vulnerable seniors.
“We appreciate House Energy & Commerce Committee Chairman John Dingell (D-MI) and Representative Tim Murphy (R-PA) for their leadership on this issue, and we thank the overwhelming majority of the House – Democrats and Republicans – who voted for this bill,” remarked AHCA/NCAL President and CEO Bruce Yarwood.
“The net impact of the Medicaid regulations proposed by the Bush Administration would be a loss of federal Medicaid funds, and onerous restrictions on how states can both raise and utilize Medicaid funding that could disrupt our nation’s already fragile system of long term care so critical to frail, elderly Americans,” continued Yarwood. “The 349-62 vote clearly indicates that Members of Congress understand how important this bill is as Governors and state legislatures face growing state budget pressures – and a squeeze on state Medicaid funding as a result of a slower economy.”
The Protecting the Medicaid Safety Net Act of 2008 halts Bush Administration efforts to reduce federal Medicaid funds, not through greater efficiency, but by unilaterally implementing regulations that would limit Medicaid payments for targeted case management services, cost limits for public providers, provider taxes, rehabilitation services, and other services. The Bush Administration has threatened to veto the legislation, which now moves to the Senate.
“We are hopeful that the overwhelming support shown for the Dingell-Murphy bill will carry over to Senate consideration of The Economic Recovery in Health Care Act, S. 2819, and will give pause to any consideration of a veto,” concluded Yarwood.
The American Health Care Association and National Center for Assisted Living (NCAL) represent nearly 11,000 non-profit and proprietary facilities dedicated to continuous improvement in the delivery of professional and compassionate care provided daily by millions of caring employees to 1.5 million of our nation's frail, elderly and disabled citizens who live in nursing facilities, assisted living residences, subacute centers and homes for persons with mental retardation and developmental disabilities. For more information, please visit www.ahca.org or www.ncal.org.