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House adds provider-rate increases, residency slots and rural health supports in Medicaid and workforce sections
Summary
Appropriations subcommittees approved changes to Medicaid reimbursement assumptions and added funding for several provider types, new residency slots and grants to expand rural and specialty services; the subcommittee directed a comprehensive review of Medicaid provider reimbursement rates.
House appropriations subcommittee materials and a committee presentation said the House is directing the Department of Community Health to conduct a comprehensive study of Medicaid provider reimbursement rates and included multiple provider-rate increases and workforce investments in the FY26 proposals.
The subcommittee’s health package cited approximately $32,000,000 in state funds for Medicaid provider-rate increases overall and identified example amounts in committee remarks: $8,000,000 for emergency medical service transports (ground and air), $1,900,000 for speech therapists, $1,900,000 for neonatologists and maternal-fetal medicine specialists, $6,300,000 for applied behavior analyst reimbursement, $7,500,000 for primary-care physician reimbursement increases, $3,100,000 for dental reimbursement increases, $1,700,000 for durable medical equipment and $1,500,000 for heart-and-lung transplant support.
The committee also added approximately $2,884,552 for 150 new residency slots statewide and a $5,000,000 establishment of a graduate medical-education grant program to support new and expanding residency programs. Other one-time and targeted health items included funding for telecare and maternal-health programs, stabilization funds for behavioral and mental-health services, rural hospital labor-and-delivery sustainability grants and investments in sickle-cell care coordination.
The health subcommittee recorded motions and voice votes to advance the department funding and health workforce items. Committee language also directed a Department of Public Health study of regional emergency-transportation needs and asked the Department of Community Health to study Medicaid reimbursement rates and report to budget offices by a specified date in committee documents.
Ending
Agencies will be expected to return implementation details and updated projections; the committee indicated updated provider-reimbursement projections were reflected in the revised totals presented to the subcommittee.
