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ARTICLES |
Health Policy at a Glance |
Grassley Presses HHS for Overdue Medicaid Report
In late September, Senator Charles Grassley (R-IA), ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee, urged Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius to deliver on a Medicaid report that was due at the beginning of this year. The report on Medicaid’s financial status, enrollment and spending trends was mandated by Congress in the Children’s Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2009. Grassley’s letter followed a similar letter he sent to Sebelius in July, which highlighted the fiscal pressures he sees facing the Medicaid program as a result of the upcoming expansion. He also voiced concern about current access problems for enrollees due to lack of participation by healthcare providers and inadequate reimbursement levels. In his latest letter, Grassley underscored the urgency of the report in light of the Medicaid expansion included in the healthcare reform law as well as the six-month extension of enhanced federal medical assistance percentage funding provided to states under the Recovery Act. | |
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