Moratorium on Changes to Rehabilitative and School-Based Services

On December 29, 2007 President Bush signed legislation containing a six-month moratorium on rulemaking related to the Medicaid Rehabilitation and School-Based Services regulations. The National Council has been working for two years to minimize the impact of proposed changes to this important Medicaid program.

The Medicare, Medicaid, and SCHIP Extension Act of 2007 (S. 2499)  signed by President Bush includes:

• A 15 month extension of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program, with extra payments to States that prevent shortfalls
• A 0.5 percent increase in physician payments through June 30, 2008, replacing the expected 10.1 percent payment reduction

 
The Medicare, Medicaid, and SCHIP Extension Act of 2007 does not include a moratorium for the Interim Final Rule on case management issued on December 4, 2007. The National Council is advocating for a moratorium on this rule and will have draft comments available for members in January. Read the National Council’s analysis of the Interim Final Rule.

The National Council has worked hard to make sure that Congress knows how important Medicaid rehabilitation services are to supporting persons with mental illness, substance use disorders, developmental disabilities, and children in the child welfare system. Because the bill includes only a six-month fix to the physician payment rate, there will be another opportunity to address both the payment rate issue and moratoriums for both the rehabilitative service option and case management in the coming months. Your ongoing involvement and communication with your elected officials is essential to our ability to protect Medicaid payment for the services that you deliver.

The National Council continues to search for vehicles for a longer moratorium on the rehabilitation option rule and for the inclusion of a moratorium on the recently released case management regulations.