Protecting the Medicaid Safety Net Act of 2008

Floor Speech

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Madam Speaker, I rise in strong support of the Protecting the Medicaid Safety Net Act of 2008.

Since its inception, Medicaid has been a joint State and Federal partnership to provide health care to the country's neediest and most vulnerable populations. Unfortunately, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, CMS, recently issued a series of Medicaid regulations that will significantly shift costs to States and restrict services to needy individuals. These regulations will force States to stop providing beneficiaries access to certain Medicaid services.

Among the damaging Medicaid regulations issued by CMS, I am especially concerned about the restrictive rules on targeted case management services that help people with disabilities remain in their community. Nearly 200,000 people in Maryland receive some type of Medicaid case management services, and these new rules will put more than $60 million in Federal funds for Maryland at risk. CMS also proposes to eliminate or severely restrict Federal Medicaid funding for rehabilitation services, graduate medical education, hospital outpatient services, safety net institutions, and school-based transportation and outreach programs. While CMS claims that the elimination of $20 billion in Federal Medicaid funding will create efficiencies in the program, it did not consult with Congress on these far reaching regulations.

With so many States, including Maryland, facing huge budget shortfalls and trying to figure out how to provide Medicaid services to their populations, now is not the time for the Federal Government to cut back on its share of funding. The legislation before us today would delay implementation of the regulations put forth by CMS so that Congress can examine their full impact.

Mr. Speaker, we have a responsibility and an obligation to our vulnerable citizens--low-income children, the disabled, and the elderly--to effectively provide access to adequate and quality health care services. I urge my colleagues to support this bipartisan bill.

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