States may be forced to slash Medicaid reimbursements yet more next year, after generous federal enhancements are due to end, according to a report by Kaiser Health News.
A bill in the House was supposed to extend cessation of the enhanced payments from Dec. 31, 2010-June 1, 2011, at a cost of $23 billion, but House leaders recently pulled the provision out of the bill and went on recess.
The executive director of National Association of State Budget Officers said states are still in fiscal peril and need the enhancements, originally created by the stimulus bill. The National Governors Association is asking Congress to pass the extension.
States now have fewer options other than fee cuts to reduce Medicaid expenses because the healthcare reform law bars them from increasing Medicaid premiums or changing eligibility criteria.
Read Kaiser Health News' report on Medicaid.