CMS issues new guidance on Medicaid funding

Editor's Note

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a letter on Medicaid funding November 17 with preliminary guidance for states regarding the implementation of new federal requirements on health care-related (provider) taxes in Medicaid. Per the letter, which was described in a news release at CMS.org, the guidance is designed to give states time to plan their efforts to meet the requirements laid out in the Working Families Tax Cuts legislation (Public Law 119-21).

The letter also includes details regarding limits on new or increased healthcare-related taxes and information about transition periods related to the closure of a financing loophole and the next steps for compliance. These provisions are projected to save taxpayers $200 billion over 10 years, per the news release.

 As noted in the news release by CMS Administrator Mehmet Oz, MD, MBA, “CMS is restoring the federal-state partnership by ensuring that Medicaid dollars are spent responsibly, transparently, and in service of the beneficiaries who depend on this program for their health and dignity.”

Both inpatient and outpatient surgeries are covered services under Medicaid.