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OHCA Presses for Bed Tax Rollback |
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OHCA Presses for Bed
Tax Rollback
With the U.S.
Senate’s passage of legislation Wednesday afternoon extending the enhanced
federal Medicaid matching funds (FMAP) for six more months, OHCA yesterday
delivered a letter
to Governor Ted Strickland, House Speaker Armond Budish, and Senate President
Bill Harris asking to roll back the skilled nursing facility franchise permit
fee to its pre-House Bill 1 level. The U.S. Senate-passed bill also extends the
exception process for the Part B therapy caps (see separate story below). The
enhanced FMAP was originally included in the American Recovery and Reinvestment
Act (stimulus legislation), and had the effect of raising the federally funded
portion each dollar the state spends on Medicaid services by about 10
percentage points. According to Families USA, the 6-month FMAP extension, which
runs through June 30, 2011, would generate additional revenue of $977 million
for the state of Ohio in Fiscal Year 2011. On a net basis, rolling back the
franchise fee would reduce state revenue by approximately $120 million, which
is far less than the amount that will be brought in by the FMAP extension.
While the FMAP extension has not been finally passed by Congress and signed by
President Obama, the Senate action means both houses now have approved the
extension, so it is highly likely to become law. In anticipation of the
legislation passing, OHCA renewed the call we made in December to use a portion
of the revenue to substitute for the franchise fee increase, which has become a
huge burden to Ohio SNFs struggling to make ends meet in a time of stagnant
Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement.
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