Recent comments by the top official at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has some healthcare stakeholders worried that the Trump administration may walk back its decision to withdraw a controversial Medicaid proposal.
CMS Administrator Seema Verma discussed the Medicaid Fiscal Accountability Rule (MFAR) while speaking at the National Medicaid Directors Association meeting this month where she defended the proposal, Inside Health Policy reported Friday.
“We’ve proposed rules to increase transparency on who the program pays and how states finance their contribution. I recognize that these issues are complex, and I’ve heard the loud feedback that our rule may have led to unintended consequences for safety-net funding,” Verma said.
“We have slowed down to take the necessary time to get this right. But I continue to stand firmly by the basic goal of the rule: We must put an end to the schemes that undermine the public’s trust and threaten Medicaid’s long-term sustainability,” she added.
One lobbyist told the news organization that Verma’s comments could mean that the administration may “try to tackle supplemental payments on a narrower basis.” The lobbyist added that “the goals of restricting supplemental payments could play into negotiations that CMS has on a state-by-state basis through the rest of the Trump administration,” according to the report.
The agency in mid-September announced plans to rescind the MFAR proposal — a move that was cheered soundly by long-term care providers and others who warned the policy could cut up to $50 billion annually from the Medicaid program.
