Policy
- Congress urged to reject Medicaid cut to pay for student loan bill
June 8, 2012
Nine national hospital organizations urged Congress not to restrict states' use of Medicaid provider assessments as a way to pay for legislation to freeze student loan interest rates. Congressional Republican leaders have proposed, as one offset option, reducing the Medicaid provider assessment threshold from 6% to 5.5% to pay for a one-year extension of a student loan interest rate bill. "We strongly believe that allowing subsidized student loan interest rates to double beginning July 1 would be devastating to millions of American students and their families," the groups wrote. "However, the Medicaid program serves more than 59 million people and has been subject to significant cuts at the state level…Because almost all states use some form of provider assessments in order to obtain federal matching funds for their Medicaid programs, such a reduction in Medicaid funding could adversely impact state financing and negatively affect beneficiaries and providers alike."
- NAPH Supports Equitable, Sustainable, Reliable Safety Net Financing
March 2012NAPH and its members urge Congress and policymakers to ensure that vulnerable patients are not left behind in delivery system transformations, by crafting future safety net financing policy that recognizes the true cost of care for difficult-to-treat populations and is aligned with broader quality improvement goals.
- Safety Net Hospitals Urge Congress to Reject Cuts that Impact Low-Income Beneficiaries and Access to Care
April 2012NAPH and its members urge Congress to protect America's safety net and reject cuts to the Medicaid program, including provider tax reductions, repeal of maintenance-of-effort requirements, DSH rebasing, and repeal of state exchange grant authority - which simply shift costs back onto cash-strapped states, providers, and beneficiaries.
