In a Nov. 1 letter to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), the Partnership for Medicaid urged the agency to prioritize investments in the health care workforce when implementing the final Medicaid access and managed care rules. The letter describes how managed care state directed payments (SDPs) are an important tool that many states are using to increase Medicaid provider payment rates to advance access and quality goals.
The Partnership for Medicaid is a nonpartisan, nationwide coalition of organizations representing clinicians, health care providers, safety net health plans, and counties. The coalition’s goal is to preserve and improve the Medicaid program. America’s Essential Hospitals signed on to this joint letter along with 12 other organizations.
The letter expresses concerns about two new administrative barriers that could make it more difficult for some states to use SDPs to increase provider payment rates: the elimination of separate payment terms, and the prohibition on interim payments based on historical utilization. These barriers could reduce payment transparency and disproportionately harm safety net providers. The partnership urged CMS to support states’ ability to use all available tools to support safety net providers.
In addition to highlighting the importance of increasing provider payment rates to ensure access, the partnership urged CMS to collect better data on payment rates and workforce challenges before implementing new wait time standards.
The partnership has convened a new workgroup to share best practices and explore new policy solutions to improve the Medicaid workforce. The letter highlights the potential for expansions to Medicaid graduate medical education payments and investments in the nursing and allied health professional workforce.
Contact Director of Policy Rob Nelb, MPH, at rnelb@essentialhospitals.org or 202.585.0127 with questions.
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