President Bush Signs War Funding Bill That Delays Medicaid Rules

Main Category: Medicare / Medicaid / SCHIP
Also Included In: Public Health;  Women's Health / Gynecology
Article Date: 02 Jul 2008 - 6:00 PDT

email to a friend   printer friendly   view / write opinions   rate article

President Bush on Monday signed into law a supplemental war funding package that includes a domestic spending amendment to delay implementation of six Medicaid regulations, CongressDaily reports. The Senate approved the measure last week, and the House approved it earlier in June (Sanchez, CongressDaily, 6/30).

The six Medicaid rule changes -- issued by the Bush administration -- aim to 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 the taxes that some states charge health providers.

The original House version of the bill would have delayed implementation of all seven Medicaid regulations. However, the final House version delays six of the rules and allows a rule limiting services Medicaid covers in outpatient settings to stay in effect. The rule prohibits 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, 6/27).

During the signing ceremony, Bush thanked congressional members from both parties for working to pass the measure (Feller, AP/Google.com, 6/30). "The bill is a result of close collaboration between my administration and members of both parties on Capitol Hill," Bush said, adding that the measure "shows the American people that even in an election year, Republicans and Democrats can come together" (Marre, The Hill, 6/30).

Reprinted with kind permission from http://www.nationalpartnership.org. You can view the entire Daily Women's Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery here. The Daily Women's Health Policy Report is a free service of the National Partnership for Women & Families, published by The Advisory Board Company.

© 2008 The Advisory Board Company. All rights reserved.