Committee reviews Senate amendments to Medicaid payment rates for community-based providers

A legislative committee reviewed Senate amendments to a bill addressing Medicaid payment rates for community-based service providers and took a nonbinding straw poll in favor of reporting the amendment, the committee chair said.

The amendments, summarized by Jen Kirby, Legislative Counsel in the Office of Legislative Counsel, change the bill’s terminology from “home and community based services” to “community based services,” direct the secretary to “calculate” payment rates for informational purposes, preserve a requirement that the methodology provide a predictable timeline for redetermination of base rates, and create a mechanism for a provider at imminent risk of closure to request “provider stabilization.”

The changes matter because they affect how Medicaid rates are described and calculated for providers that serve people in home settings and other community locations. Committee members said the language clarifies the scope of covered settings and preserves a process for rate redetermination and emergency stabilization that could affect providers facing financial distress.

Kirby, describing the Senate amendments, said the change in terminology was intended to…