Washington, D.C. — Rick Pollack, President and CEO at the American Hospital Association (AHA), and Mark Parkinson, President and CEO at the American Health Care Association (AHCA), issued the following joint statement in response to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (CMS) proposed Medicaid Fiscal Accountability Regulation.
“We appreciate CMS’ responsibility to oversee appropriate Medicaid financing and service delivery. However, the bleak reality is that Medicaid funding is already inadequate. Enacting this proposed rule would cut up to $50 billion nationally from the Medicaid program annually, further crippling Medicaid financing in many states and jeopardizing access to care for the 75 million Americans who rely on the program as their primary source of health coverage.
“Entire communities could lose access to care under this proposal, especially in rural areas where 15 percent of hospital revenue and nearly two-thirds of nursing facility revenue nationwide depend on Medicaid funding. The supplemental payment programs targeted in this rule are also a critical lifeline at hospitals, health systems and nursing facilities that serve some of the most vulnerable Americans.
“CMS has provided little to no analysis to justify these policy changes, nor has the agency assessed the impact on providers and the patients they serve. Many of the proposed changes would also violate federal laws, including the current Medicaid statute. The AHA and AHCA request that the agency withdraw the proposed rule in its entirety.”
ABOUT AHA
The American Hospital Association (AHA) is a not-for-profit association of health care provider organizations and individuals that are committed to the health improvement of their communities. The AHA advocates on behalf of our nearly 5,000 member hospitals, health systems and other health care organizations, our clinician partners – including more than 270,000 affiliated physicians, 2 million nurses and other caregivers – and the 43,000 health care leaders who belong to our professional membership groups. Founded in 1898, the AHA provides insight and education for health care leaders and is a source of information on health care issues and trends. For more information, visit the AHA website at
www.aha.org.
ABOUT AHCA/NCAL
The American Health Care Association and National Center for Assisted Living (AHCA/NCAL) represents 14,000 non-profit and proprietary skilled nursing centers, assisted living communities, sub-acute centers and homes for individuals with intellectual and development disabilities. By delivering solutions for quality care, AHCA/NCAL aims to improve the lives of the millions of frail, elderly and individuals with disabilities who receive long term or post-acute care in our member facilities each day. For more information, please visit
www.ahca.org or
www.ncal.org.