Long-term care operators dodge proposed Medicaid cut

An attempt to reduce Medicaid provider assessment thresholds for long-term care operators has been averted, a provider group said Friday.

At the beginning of June, House Republicans proposed reducing the Medicaid provider tax threshold from 6% to 5.5% as a means of keeping the interest rate low on subsidized Stafford loans to students. The American Health Care Association, which lobbied lawmakers against the proposal, argued that providers view this assessment as an annual source of revenue. Lawmakers instead agreed to freeze subsidized student loan rates for another year at 3.4%, and raised premiums for federal pension insurance.

“Long-term and post-acute care providers are relieved that Congress found a more responsible way to fund the majority of the Stafford loan program,” AHCA President and CEO Mark Parkinson said in a statement.