Medicare Bad Debt Policy

MEDICARE BAD DEBT POLICY

Mrs. LINCOLN. Mr. President, I rise today with my distinguished colleague from Idaho, Senator CRAPO, to discuss the change in Medicare bad debt policy as proposed in the budget reconciliation bill. I feel there is a need to differentiate between debt owed by individuals and debt owed by States. The sponsors of this policy argue that it will encourage skilled nursing facilities to be more efficient in the collection of bad debt. However, how can the facility be more efficient if the State simply refuses to pay the Medicare co-payments through its Medicaid program? This body should examine the root of this problem before implementing the bad debt policy in this bill. It is my hope that the conference committee considers this when examining this policy.

Mr. CRAPO. Senator LINCOLN makes a good point. While I support the Finance Committee's goal of encouraging accountability and incentivizing the collection of Medicare bad debt by skilled nursing facilities, I do see the need to differentiate between debt owed by individuals and debt owed by States. I believe this conference should consider this point as well.

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