House of Representatives’ Energy & Commerce Committee Releases Reconciliation Package on Medicaid & Medicare
Click to Enlarge
This week U.S. House of Representatives’ Energy & Commerce Committee released its much-anticipated spending proposals including for the Medicaid and Medicare programs. The bill was introduced using the reconciliation process, which is an accelerated procedure with specific rules for content and passage and is often used to deal with contested issues as it makes legislation easier to pass in the Senate, where instead of needing 60 votes, a reconciliation bill only needs a simple majority (51 votes).
The proposal does contain some generally positive aspects, including provides some long-term relief to prevent future Medicare physician payment cuts that is benchmarked to the Medicare Economic Index (MEI); and requiring several rules to ensure transparency of PBM practices.
However, the Medicaid aspects of the proposal raises grave concerns that likely will adversely impact patient Medicaid enrollment and jeopardize state funding for the payment of care delivery. These include:
- Increasing the frequency of documentation to prove continued eligibility for Medicaid.
- Requiring documentation of having worked 80 hours per month for people ages 18-65.
- Imposing co-pays on Medicaid beneficiaries who earn more than 100% of the federal poverty level (FPL). For quick reference, the annual salary for 100% FPL for an individual is $15,650 and $32,150 for a family of four.
- Requiring state Medicaid programs to confirm every month physician and Medicaid provider eligibility to deliver services.
Moreover, a recent major poll public showed that public sentiment is changing. According to the poll, three quarters of the public say they broadly oppose major federal funding cuts to Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security. Nearly 55 percent of Republicans surveyed, but 95 percent of Democrats and 79 percent of independents, said they specifically oppose major Medicaid cuts.
MSSNY continues its work with a large coalition of patient and health care provider groups from across New York State, including joining a letter to members of New York’s Congressional
Delegation NY Delegation-Letter-Protect-Medicaid-January-2025.pdf urging them to oppose proposed cuts to Medicaid and other essential publicly financed health insurance programs.
MSSNY also joined a letter to Congressional leaders from dozens of state medical associations , Coalition of State Medical Assn Letter to Congress re Medicaid Cuts – House (022725) 2025-05-13 (1).pdf, from across the country to prevent these steep Medicaid cuts. In addition, several county medical societies have joined in locally focused joint stakeholder letters to their local Congressional representatives.
Physicians are urged to continue to advocate to help protect patients’ access to community-based physician care by opposing cuts to Medicaid coverage and payment for this care. Protect Patient Access to Comprehensive Care: Stop Deep Cuts to Medicaid.
MSSNY is also asking physicians to continue to contact their members of Congress through MSSNY’s Grassroots Action Center (GAC) to urge them to pass a measure to reverse the 2.8% Medicare physician payment cut that went into effect January 1.
