CMS Withdraws Controversial Proposal to Limit State Medicaid Financing Structures

LeadingAge NY and LeadingAge National are pleased that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has withdrawn a proposal that could have cut up to $50 billion nationwide from the Medicaid program annually, including hundreds of millions of dollars in funding to New York and its providers.

CMS announced Monday that it has rescinded the proposed Medicaid Fiscal Accountability Rule (MFAR). CMS Administrator Seema Verma tweeted that the agency “listened closely to concerns that have been raised by our state and provider partners about potential unintended consequences of the proposed rule, which require further study. Therefore, CMS is withdrawing the rule from the regulatory agenda.”

LeadingAge NY had submitted written comments to CMS on the MFAR proposal. This proposed regulation would have made major changes to key parts of state Medicaid financing structures for nursing homes and hospitals, including Medicaid-reimbursable provider taxes and supplemental payments such as Intergovernmental Transfers (IGTs), both of which are utilized in New York. LeadingAge NY and LeadingAge National had called on CMS to withdraw the proposed rule.

Contact: Dan Heim, dheim@leadingageny.org, 518-867-8866