March 26, 2008
Contact: Tony Wyche
314.361.4774

Proposed Changes to Federal Medicaid Regulations Will Force Missouri to Make Up $1.4 Billion in Revenues or Cut Medicaid Services

New MFH fact sheet details impact to Missouri of CMS’s proposed changes to the Medicaid program

St. Louis - - Proposed changes to the federal Medicaid program will have a staggering impact on the state of Missouri, noted a fact sheet released today by the Missouri Foundation for Health (MFH). The changes to Medicaid, proposed by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), will reduce federal funding to Missouri by approximately $1.4 billion over the next five years, according to the MFH report.

“The changes to the Medicaid program proposed by CMS will have a dramatic impact on Missouri, forcing state government to choose between making up $1.4 billion in lost federal revenue and cutting Medicaid services,” said Ryan Barker, MFH Policy Analyst.

At issue are seven regulatory changes that would reduce federal funding for the Medicaid program, which provides health coverage and long-term care to almost 60 million low-income families, elderly, and disabled individuals. Missouri’s Medicaid program -- known as MO HealthNet -- currently serves approximately 830,000 Missourians.

The proposed regulatory changes, which include a reduction in federal payments for public and teaching hospitals as well as a restriction in payments for services used predominantly by the disabled and children, will take effect unless the Administration withdraws them or Congress takes action to keep them from being enacted.

Were the changes to be enacted, Missouri would lose more than $240 million in federal Medicaid payments in 2008 and $1.4 billion over the next five years.

“At a point when policymakers in Jefferson City are struggling to find ways to extend health coverage to Missourians who lack it, these proposed federal changes will make it extremely difficult for the state just to maintain current Medicaid services and very unlikely that any new initiatives to reduce the increasing number of uninsured Missourians could even be considered,” added Barker.

The MFH fact sheet details the funding impact of each of CMS’s proposed changes to the Medicaid program for 2008 and over the next five years. It also includes information on how changes are made to the Medicaid program.

The full fact sheet can be viewed on the MFH website at www.mffh.org/Factsheet_FederalMedicaidRegs.pdf. Members of the media who wish to have a .pdf version of the fact sheet e-mailed to them should e-mail Tony Wyche, MFH Health Policy Communications Consultant, at tonywyche@soapbox-pr.com.

Established in 2000, MFH is the largest non-governmental funder of community health activities in Missouri. MFH is in its sixth year of grantmaking, having issued more than $270 million in grants and awards to date. It is dedicated to serving the uninsured, underinsured and underserved in 84 Missouri counties and the City of St. Louis. For more information about MFH, visit www.mffh.org.

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