By a veto-proof margin of 75-22, the Senate last week approved as part of a bill to fund the continuing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan a provision to prevent the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) from implementing until April 2009 seven Medicaid regulations, including regulations to eliminate Medicaid funding for graduate medical education (GME), cut critical funding for public hospitals, curtail funding for outpatient hospital services, and hamper the ability of states to raise revenues for their Medicaid programs. Unfortunately, the Congress did not complete action on the bill because on May 15, while passing the Medicaid moratoria legislation by an overwhelming margin, the House of Representatives did not muster enough votes to approve its version of the overall Iraq war funding bill. Final action on the bill, therefore, will have to wait until after the Memorial Day recess, which ends on June 3. Regardless of when the measure does arrive on the President’s desk, the Administration has already made clear that it will veto the Iraq war funding bill if the Medicaid moratoria are included, along with other domestic spending items the President opposes. With the existing moratoria on the GME and public provider regulations expiring on May 25, the Administration formally announced on May 21 that it would voluntarily refrain from implementing either rule until August 1, 2008, or “more than 60 days after the moratoria expire.” While that announcement was intended to signal a willingness by the Administration to work with stakeholders, it should be pointed out that both of these rules likely would have had a 60-day notice anyway.     

GNYHA continues to work with Congress to make sure hospital members are protected from the extremely damaging Medicaid regulations promulgated by CMS (see photo of Rep. Lowey’s press conference), and expects that Congress will soon pass legislation to prevent CMS from implementing the regulations.