The administration is considering sidestepping Congress to make another run at using state block grants to pay for Medicaid funding, according to a published report.
The White House was quietly researching possibilities, said Politico in early January.
Providers, strong opponents of block grant funding, immediately criticized the idea.
American Health Care Association President and CEO Mark Parkinson holds that the administration would have no legal standing to create a block-grant program.
Trump sent providers reeling shortly after his inauguration when he made a first run at instituting the block-grant approach. Healthcare providers and consumers banded together to beat back the contentious effort.
Three sources told Politico, a political journalism company, that the administration is now drafting guidelines of the “major Medicaid overhaul,” which would shift from open-ended entitlement to stricter state spending limits and more flexibility in running the payment platform.
Besides a wave of providers, Trump would face fierce opposition from many lawmakers.
“Hell no,” Sen. Bob Casey (D-PA) tweeted after the story broke. “If the administration tries to decimate Medicaid through executive action after its scheme was rejected by Congress and the American people, I will fight it with everything I have.”
Politico said the scope of the proposal was still unclear, with uncertainty whether the government would seek stricter block grants or softer spending caps. It was also undetermined whether reforms would hit all Medicaid populations, including nursing home residents, or a smaller subset. A Centers for Medicare & Medicaid spokesperson declined to comment to Politico.
From the February 01, 2019 Issue of McKnight's Long-Term Care News
