President Bush delivered a blessing for medical educational programs this week as part of new legislation. By signing the Iraq war spending bill, which contained language impacting Medicaid reimbursement, Bush also agreed to halt planned changes to federal Medicaid match funding. The Bush administration had previously proposed to eliminate Medicaid payments given directly to hospitals as a state match. Teaching hospitals have been using that money to pay for residency programs, but the administration objected to this use. Now, CMS will hold off on the proposed change for at least one year. However, the administration is likely to look at such measures again, as they could save CMS $1.8 billion through 2012.
To find out more about proposed Medicaid changes:
- read this St. Louis Post-Dispatch article