More long-term care providers are calling on the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to withdraw a Medicaid proposal that they say could hurt their supplemental payments and cut up to $50 billion nationwide from the program annually. 

CMS’ proposed Medicaid Fiscal Accountability rule could cause states to slash benefits, eligibility and rates/payments to providers, LeadingAge warned in recently submitted comments to the agency.

“If implemented as written, the proposed rule could have a devastating impact on providers and thereby harm the very older adults the Medicaid program is designed to protect. Medicaid is vital to delivering health and LTSS to older Americans,” Katie Smith Sloan, LeadingAge president and CEO, said in a statement.

“Given the absence of Medicare and private insurance coverage of LTSS, any changes to how states finance their Medicaid programs has direct implications both for these services and for the people who rely on them to meet their needs. LeadingAge cannot support any policy proposal that would threaten Medicaid LTSS funding,” she added. 

Nursing facilities could see increased state provider taxes under the proposed rule, the organization noted. It added that current provider provider tax exemptions or discounts for continuing care retirement communities (CCRCs) in select states could also be in jeopardy, which would mean increased state taxes for them. 

“Most CCRCs would not be able to absorb new taxes without cutting services, passing the new costs along to their residents or closing their nursing homes entirely. In other words, older adults in CCRCs would likely bear the brunt of the proposed MFAR if finalized,” the organization stated. 

Last week, leaders of the American Health Care and American Hospital associations called on CMS to withdraw the proposal, adding that it would “cut up to $50 billion nationally from the Medicaid program annually.”