Congressional Democrats Object to CMS Block Grants Proposal

ANCOR is currently in the process of analyzing the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ (CMS) Medicaid block grants proposal, released on Thursday under the name Healthy Adults Opportunity. Pending that analysis, we are keeping our members informed of key policymakers’ reactions to the proposal as reported by The Hill:

“More than 30 House Democrats are warning the Trump administration that it should not allow states to turn their Medicaid funding into block grants.

The letter, led by Rep. Joe Kennedy III (D-Mass.) and signed by 35 other Democrats, argues that block grants are illegal.

‘The administration should not issue any guidance encouraging block grant waivers, should reject these waivers and the concept of block grants, and urge any state that is considering this misguided policy to commit its energy to implementing Medicaid as Congress intends,’ the Democrats wrote. 

[…]

‘Previous statements from the administration make it clear that the goal of these block grants is to cut benefits and further limit access to publicly funded health care,’ the lawmakers wrote.”

Additionally, Politico Pro reports that “the House will vote Thursday on a resolution to disapprove of the Trump administration’s new plan to let states convert some Medicaid funding into block grants, Democratic leadership announced”.