Senate Passes Funding Package That Delays Medicaid Rules; President Bush Expected To Sign Bill

Main Category: Medicare / Medicaid / SCHIP
Also Included In: Public Health
Article Date: 30 Jun 2008 - 6:00 PST

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The Senate on Thursday voted 92-6 to approve a supplemental war funding package that includes a domestic spending amendment that would delay the implementation of six new Bush administration Medicaid regulations, CongressDaily reports. President Bush is expected to sign the measure, which passed the House last week. The supplemental package is made up of two amendments -- the first of which provides about $162 billion for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The second includes funding not directly related to the wars (Sanchez, CongressDaily, 6/27).

The six Medicaid rule changes at issue would delay services covered by some states' case management plans; limit Medicaid reimbursement to public hospitals; bar federal reimbursement for transportation to school and school-based care for Medicaid-eligible children; restrict the types of "rehabilitative" services covered by federal funding; reduce federal Medicaid reimbursement for students at teaching hospitals; and limit taxes some states charge health providers.

The original House version of the bill would have delayed implementation of all seven new Bush administration Medicaid regulations. However, the final House version would delay six of the rules and allow a rule limiting services Medicaid would cover in outpatient settings to stay in effect. The rule would prohibit payments for some services, including dental care and preventive care. The rule is estimated to save about $300 million over five years (Daily Women's Health Policy Report, 6/20).

The White House Office of Management & Budget in a statement praised the passage of the measure, saying it "stays within the president's reasonable discretionary spending limits" (Rogin, CQ Today, 6/27). In advancing the bill, House and Senate Democrats agreed to vote in favor of war funding, while Republicans agreed to support domestic spending, including delaying the Medicaid regulations. Bruce Buchanan, a political scientist at the University of Texas at Austin, said that Democrats had a "bigger" victory on the measure "than any they've had before on domestic issues," adding that Bush "concede[d]" domestic spending "more than he would have in the past" (Dodge/Johnston, Bloomberg, 6/27).

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