CMS to withdraw Medicaid fiscal accountability proposed rule

As urged by the AHA, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services yesterday announced that it will withdraw its Medicaid fiscal accountability proposed rule from its regulatory agenda.

“We’ve listened closely to concerns that have been raised by our state and provider partners about potential unintended consequences of the proposed rule, which require further study,” CMS Administrator Seema Verma tweeted. “Therefore, CMS is withdrawing the rule from the regulatory agenda.”

CMS still must formally withdraw the rule through a notice published in the Federal Register.

The AHA earlier this year urged CMS to withdraw a proposed rule related to Medicaid program financing and supplemental payments because it would "severely curtail the availability of health care services to millions of individuals" and "many of its provisions are not legally permissible.

“We appreciate CMS for acknowledging the harmful consequences this rule would have for patients,” said AHA Executive Vice President Tom Nickels. “Up to $50 billion in annual funding for the Medicaid program was on the line, cuts that would have crippled state financing and limited access to care, especially in rural and underserved areas. Hospitals and health systems will be greatly relieved when the proposed rule is formally withdrawn.”