Congressional Leaders Seek Answers on Enforcement of Medicaid Asset Transfer Rules
Republican chairs of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce and the Senate Finance Committee recently wrote to the head of Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), demanding explanation for why 22 states and D,C. are “failing” to implement federal laws about Medicaid eligibility and asset transfer rules for Long Term Services and Supports (LTSS) benefits. They write:
“We are troubled to learn that many states have not implemented all of the eligibility and asset transfer requirements enacted by OBRA and DRA. Information provided to us by the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Inspector General (OIG) shows that, as of November 2013, only 28 states reported they implemented all of the relevant provisions from these two laws. Thus, although it has been over 20 years since enactment of OBRA and nearly 10 years since DRA, the remaining 22 states and the District of Columbia have yet to comply with federal law. California, which accounts for 12 percent of Medicaid LTSS spending, reported that it has not implemented the majority of the relevant provisions. As a result, federal Medicaid dollars may be paying for care for individuals who are not eligible for coverage under federal law, which puts a strain on resources for those individuals who are eligible and in need.”
The Chairmen ask for answers to a list of questions (by February 27), focusing on what action CMS is taking or will take to bring states “into compliance.” For example, they ask “How is CMS ensuring that federal Medicaid dollars are not being used to support coverage for individuals ineligible for LTSS under federal law?”
Here is the legislators’ full letter, addressed to Marilyn Tavenner at CMS, dated January 23, 2015.
For another perspective on potential disparities among the states in administering Medicaid eligibility rules for LTSS, see AARP’s Public Policy Institute Report on “Access to Long-Term Services and Supports: A 50-State Survey of Medicaid Financial Eligibility Standards” released in September 2010.
This letter presents an interesting juxtaposition with the Armstrong case now pending in the Supreme Court. On the one hand, federal and state governments are arguing in court that there is no private standing to challenge “underfunding” of federally mandated Medicaid programs; on the other hand Congress seems to be demanding that CMS stop any potential for overfunding Medicaid beneficiaries.