MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE
2007 Regular Session
To: Rules
By: Representative Dedeaux, Holland, Akins, Bondurant, Clark, Cockerham, Cummings, Dickson, Evans, Flaggs, Fleming, Franks, Fredericks, Gadd, Gregory, Hamilton (6th), Harrison, Howell, Hudson, Ishee, Lane, Masterson, Middleton, Montgomery, Gardner, Moss, Norquist, Reed, Reynolds, Rogers (14th), Smith (59th), Straughter, Thomas, Walley, Ward, Whittington, Aldridge, Arinder, Bailey, Baker (74th), Baker (8th), Banks, Barnett, Beckett, Blackmon, Bounds, Broomfield, Brown, Buck, Burnett, Calhoun, Chism, Clarke, Coleman (29th), Coleman (65th), Compretta, Davis, Denny, Eaton, Ellington, Ellis, Espy, Fillingane, Formby, Frierson, Gibbs, Guice, Gunn, Hamilton (109th), Hines, Holloway, Horne, Huddleston, Janus, Jennings, Johnson, Lott, Malone, Markham, Martinson, Mayhall, Mayo, McBride, McCoy, Miles, Mims, Moak, Moore, Morgan, Myers, Nicholson, Palazzo, Parker, Patterson, Peranich, Perkins, Read, Reeves, Robinson (63rd), Robinson (84th), Rogers (61st), Rotenberry, Scott, Shows, Simpson, Smith (27th), Smith (39th), Snowden, Staples, Stevens, Stringer, Sullivan, Turner, Upshaw, Vince, Warren, Watson, Weathersby, Wells-Smith, Woods, Young, Zuber
A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION REQUESTING AND ENCOURAGING THE CENTERS FOR MEDICARE AND MEDICAID SERVICES (CMS) TO CEASE AND DESIST IN THEIR EFFORTS TO CHANGE THE RULES REGARDING MEDICAID FINANCING TO THE DETRIMENT OF THE HOSPITALS AND OTHER HEALTH CARE BUSINESSES AND PROFESSIONALS THAT PROVIDE ESSENTIAL HEALTH CARE SERVICES TO THE ELDERLY, THE DISABLED AND OTHER NEEDY POPULATIONS IN OUR STATE.
WHEREAS, the federal Medicaid agency, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), has proposed to change the Medicaid program rules in ways that will seriously injure the ability of states to maintain their Medicaid program, and will cause substantial financial injury to the hospitals and other health care businesses and professionals that provide essential health care services to the elderly, the disabled and other needy populations in our state; and
WHEREAS, although CMS says that its proposals are consistent with and required by current law, they go far beyond any reasonable construction of the agency’s authority, disrupt long-standing practices, and impose new and onerous administrative and fiscal burdens on the states; and
WHEREAS, the principal elements of the CMS proposals, each of which would impair state programs, are: (1) the prohibition of the use of various sources of revenue of public entities that, along with funds appropriated from tax collections, have always been considered to be legitimate sources for the expenditures that they certify as the basis for federal matching funds for Medicaid, (2) the restriction on the use of certification of public expenditures (CPEs) to a narrow category of governmental units, which excludes public bodies that have long been allowed to certify expenditures as the basis for federal Medicaid funding, (3) the limitation on payments to governmental providers to their cost, which would undermine the use of payment methodologies widely used, in Medicare as well as Medicaid, to encourage cost efficiency, and (4) the requirement that all payments made to Medicaid providers be retained by them, which would both be unenforceable and certain to be a constant source of disputes and intrusion into the operation of state governmental entities; and
WHEREAS, in the realm of hospital services, the proposed rules would allow federal Medicaid payments only where the non-federal share of expenditures could be traced directly to an appropriation of tax dollars from some governmental body – the state, a county, or another entity with taxing authority - which would bar the use of unquestionably legitimate sources, such as foundation grants, earnings from other hospital operations, including ancillary lines of business such as gift shops or parking lots, and charitable contributions, as well as state sources such as tobacco payments, university tuition and other fees; and
WHEREAS, the proposed rules would not only bar the use of the sources listed above, the proposed rules would even limit some categories of tax-based appropriations; and
WHEREAS, the CMS proposals would do great damage to the Medicaid program, the continued vitality of which is crucial to attaining the goal, now generally regarded as among the most important domestic policy objectives, of broadening health care coverage throughout the nation:
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI, THE SENATE CONCURRING THEREIN, That we request and encourage the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to cease and desist in their efforts to change the rules regarding Medicaid financing to the detriment of the hospitals and other health care businesses and professionals that provide essential health care services to the elderly, the disabled and other needy populations in our state.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That copies of this resolution be
furnished to the President of the United States Senate, the
Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, members of the Mississippi congressional delegation, and members of the Capitol Press Corps.