Mass Senior Care last week submitted comments to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) urging the agency to delay implementation of the Medicaid Fiscal Accountability Rule (MFAR) until the CMS has time to collect detailed data from the states and assess state impacts using a Technical Expert Panel.
In November, CMS issued a proposed rule would impact provider assessments and upper payment limit (UPL) programs. Mass Senior Care noted that the estimated budgetary impact of the CMS proposal for Massachusetts is $1.4 billion in Massachusetts. Mass Senior Care President Tara Gregorio noted that we are concerned that the broad, sweeping changes that CMS is proposing will ultimately lead to draconian cuts to state Medicaid budgets, and will ultimately have a negative impact on beneficiaries and their ability to access needed care and services covered under the program. The Massachusetts Medicaid program is currently struggling to adequately fund nursing home care.
The American Health Care Association, numerous other provider associations and the National Governor’s Association have submitted testimony to CMS noting their concerns with the proposed rule. The NGA’s letter noted that while it supported CMS’s goal to ensure long-term fiscal integrity in the Medicaid program, it is “concerned that the proposed rule, as drafted, would significantly curtail the longstanding flexibility states have to fund and pay for services in their Medicaid programs. In losing this flexibility, states may be unable to adequately fund their Medicaid programs, which could lead to unintended consequences that would negatively impact Medicaid beneficiaries across the country.”