California's healthcare advocates are pressing the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to disallow a plan by Gov. Jerry Brown to cut reimbursement rates by 10 percent, reports The Hill's Healthwatch.
"The necessity of strong CMS oversight of Medicaid rate-setting by the states is more important that ever," read a portion of the letter. "CMS should be scrutinizing those states where cuts endanger people's ability to live successfully in the community ... [and] ensure that states set and maintain their Medicaid rate structures at levels to assure that ... enrollees can access necessary services."
The advocates argue that the cuts would most hurt those enrollees with disabilities, as many are being shifted into managed care plans.
Several other states are also trying to curb costs by either slashing Medicaid rolls, as in Arizona, or moving enrollees into managed care, such as Florida.
California filed an official request to make the cuts on June 30. CMS has 90 days to make a formal review.
For more:
- read The Hill's Healthwatch article
- read the letter (.pdf)