Action Alert: Support the “Protecting the Medicaid Safety Net Act” (H.R. 5613)
Recently, House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman John Dingell (D-MI) and Representative Tim Murphy (R-PA) introduced legislation, the “Protecting the Medicaid Safety Net Act” (H.R. 5613), that would impose a one-year moratorium on the implementation of seven regulations recently issued by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). The regulations covered by the proposed moratoria are the CMS regulations that limit Medicaid payments for:
- Targeted case management services
- Rehabilitation services
- School-based transportation and outreach services
- Governmental providers
- Provider taxes
- Hospital outpatient services
- Graduate Medical Education
According to the legislation, H.R. 5613 would prohibit CMS from taking action to implement these regulations until April of 2009.
First Focus is calling on all of its partners to weigh in with their Representatives on this urgent legislation. The CMS regulations would reverse longstanding Medicaid policy and jeopardize access to healthcare for scores of low-income children. In addition, the regulations would set aside longstanding Medicaid policy which ensures that special needs children have access to the comprehensive healthcare services they need to maintain or improve their health status.
Along these lines, First Focus released a report, “CMS’ Medicaid Regulations: Implications for Children with Special Health Care Needs,” which highlighted that vulnerable children bear the brunt of CMS’ proposed regulations. The report, which was authored by Sara Rosenbaum, Chair of the Department of Health Policy at the George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Care Services, found that CMS’ recent series of regulations would have a disproportionate impact on children with special health care needs. This population of children, which includes those with chronic physical, developmental, behavioral, or emotional conditions, or who require health care beyond that which is considered routine, typically have a high reliance on Medicaid and would bear the brunt of CMS’s proposed actions.
Please contact your Representatives immediately and urge them to join H.R. 5613 as a cosponsor. A strong bipartisan list of cosponsors is essential if we are to get Congress to quickly take up this legislation after members return from the spring recess. A copy of the legislation is attached to this email.
No child in America who is currently covered under SCHIP or Medicaid should lose their health coverage or access to care as a result of CMS’ recent regulatory actions.
For additional information, please contact Lisa Shapiro at 202.657.0675 or lisas@firstfocus.net.
