Letter to Andrew Slavitt, Acting Administrator Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services - Evaluate Texas Medicaid Cuts

Letter

Dear Acting Administrator Slavitt:

As you know, there are over four million Medicaid recipients in the State of Texas, including a significant number of children that have an immediate issue facing them that demands urgent attention.

Specifically, we are concerned that the severity of the rate reductions being proposed by the Texas Health and Human Services Commission will have a devastating impact on the ability of children to access medically necessary therapy services.

As background, the first of the rate reductions were scheduled to take effect September 1, 2015 and are now scheduled to be implemented October 1, 2015. Rider 50 (c), H.B. 1, 84th Texas Legislature, directs the Texas Health and Human Services Commission to make $150 million worth of reductions in general revenue over the FY 2016-2017 state biennium to Medicaid acute care therapy services through a combination of rate reductions and policy changes.

It is our understanding that the state will have to submit a State Plan Amendment to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to implement the proposed rate reductions.

We would urge CMS to carefully review any rate reductions to acute care therapy services submitted by the Texas Health and Human Services Commission to ensure that the amount of rate reductions and the methodology being employed by the state to implement rate reductions does not restrict access to medically necessary therapy services, regardless of setting.

Thank you for your prompt attention to this matter.