A bipartisan group of Texas lawmakers denounced a federal rule that could cut approximately $8.4 billion from the state’s Medicaid funding.
In February, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services released a memo that looked to end payment agreements between Texas and hospitals within the state. In order to pay for Medicaid costs, Texas taxes hospitals. Then, the state gives hospitals funding it receives from the federal government to cover the incurred taxes. The proposed CMS change would make this illegal, Allied News reports.
“For 40 years, we’ve had a good system where the state and the federal government cooperate with health care providers to provide care, (but) because of changes proposed by unelected bureaucrats, this whole system is in jeopardy,” said state Sen. Bryan Hughes, R-Mineola, during a press conference Wednesday. “Texas has relied on this system and built our safety around it and we can’t have the rug pulled out from under us at this point.” Read more.
