Providers, hospitals and health centers press Human Services panel for Medicaid rate increases to prevent service cuts

Advocates across Connecticut's health system told the Human Services Committee on March 11 that state Medicaid reimbursement rates are inadequate, putting care for low-income residents at risk and urging the legislature to pass HB 7,191 to rebase and index rates.

Commissioner Andrea Barton Reeves of the Department of Social Services briefed the committee on the department's position and the results of recent rate studies. Reeves said the state has completed two independent analyses that identify large shortfalls across several provider groups and that the studies provide a roadmap for rebasing rates. "It is time to implement those studies," Reeves told the committee, and she said DSS intends to work with the Office of Policy and Management, MAPOC and stakeholders to phase increases and tie future updates to an established schedule that reflects provider costs.

Representatives from federally qualified health centers described sizable losses on Medicaid visits and warned…