Sen. Coleman: Fighting For Health Care For Our Most Vulnerable Citizens

Sen. Coleman is reaching across the aisle to block a new Medicaid rule that would cut aid to some of our most vulnerable citizens, including the mentally ill, the elderly, and at-risk children.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has said that Congress decided to address the problem of "widespread improper billing by states of the Medicaid program" in the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005. CMS noted that the Government Accountability Office, Congress' investigative arm, has documented many accounts of inappropriate billing of Targeted Case Management by states.

 

"Targeted Case Management provides critical services to Minnesota's elderly, disabled and foster children," Coleman said. "Social-workers, county supervisors and health care providers have consistently told me how devastating this new regulation would be for these individuals and their families."

 

CMS says that "certain refinements and clarifications" in the rule are expected to save the Medicaid program $1.2 billion over the next five years.

(“U.S. Senate votes to delay rule that would cut money for at-risk kids,” Associated Press, February 26, 2008)

A similar measure is working its way through the House of Representatives.