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Protect the Medicaid Interests of Urban Safety-Net Hospitals
In 2006, the administration proposed reducing federal Medicaid spending by $13.8 billion over the next five years through a number of means, including redefining allowable payments to public providers that use intergovernmental transfers and upper payment limit mechanisms; redefining the allowable provider taxes that states can use to fund their Medicaid programs; and redefining the allowable costs for which states are reimbursed for targeted Medicaid case management. When Congress did not adopt these measures, the administration indicated that it would implement at least some of them administratively, through regulations - a step it still had not taken as 2006 ended. Nevertheless, many observers believe these regulations may still be forthcoming early in 2007 (minus the proposed limits on the use of provider taxes, which Congress blocked before adjourning in December of 2006 through a provision in the Tax Relief and Health Care Act of 2006).
In 2007, NAUH will protect the Medicaid interests of urban hospitals by continuing to monitor the possible administrative implementation of the proposed 2007 budget cuts, any legislation introduced as a result of the recommendations of the federal Medicaid Commission, and the administration's FY 2008 budget proposal and act in a timely and effective manner to prevent the adoption of policies that would be harmful to urban hospitals and to advocate the adoption of measures that would be beneficial to those hospitals.
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