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Administration Rescinds Medicaid ER Policy
WASHINGTON -- Under fire from critics,
the Bush administration Wednesday canceled a policy put in place last
month that would have allowed states to place limits on emergency care for
Medicaid patients.
"Due to the concerns we heard from
you and others, the will be notifying states that we are rescinding the
December 20 letter and that the previous guidance is to be followed,"
CMS Administrator Tom Scully wrote in a letter to members of the US Senate
Finance Committee. Scully met with the Senators and their staff on Tuesday
to hear their complaints about the policy.
Scully had defended the policy only
hours before it was reversed. Speaking at the National Health Policy
Conference, Scully said he thought the policy allowing states to impose
limits on emergency room care for Medicaid patients in managed care plans
"was pretty well thought out."
Scully also denied that the policy would
hurt patients. "The patient still has to be treated," he said,
noting that another federal law, known as EMTALA, requires hospitals that
get Medicare or Medicaid funding to at least examine any patient who shows
up asking for emergency room care. "We're just trying to give states
more flexibility," he added.
But the letter issued Wednesday
afternoon noted that "the policy, while well-intentioned, may have
some unintended consequences and could potentially result in some
restriction of payment for true emergency care for Medicaid
beneficiaries." Scully said he intends to work with senators in the
future "on policies to discourage the inappropriate use of emergency
room care."
Separately, Scully at the policy
conference again urged Congress to act as soon as possible to block a 4.4%
fee cut for physicians serving Medicare patients. That cut is now set for
March 1.
"It's not good for doctors or
patients," he said, if the cut takes effect, because many physicians
have warned they may stop seeing Medicare beneficiaries.
Meanwhile, FDA Commissioner Mark
McClellan, who also addressed the conference, reiterated his agency's
opposition to efforts to make it easier for consumers to buy drugs from
Canada at that country's lower prices.
"We really do view this as a
potentially important safety risk," said McClellan. "Reimported
drugs are not reliably safe and effective." Nevertheless, he
acknowledged that prices are often much cheaper across the border, and he
said he expects Congress to continue to debate the issue.
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