November 5, 2007

Supplemental spending bill blocks Medicaid, GME Rules; funds SCHIP, veteransâ?? health

The supplemental appropriations bill Congress approved Thursday blocks controversial Medicaid and GME proposals and includes funding for the State Children's Health Insurance Program and health care for U.S. troops and veterans.  The legislation prohibits for one year the secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services from taking any action to "finalize or otherwise implement" the Jan. 1 Medicaid proposed rule regarding cost limits and "units of government." The bill also prohibits for one year the promulgation or implementation of "any rule or provisions" restricting Medicaid payments for graduate medical education.  The vast majority of the $120 billion in the bill, which President Bush is expected to sign, will go toward military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.  However, the supplemental includes up to $650 million in additional allotments for certain states facing fiscal year 2007 shortfalls in SCHIP funding.  The bill also provides nearly $1.8 billion in additional FY 2007 funding for the Department of Veterans Affairs, much of which is specifically targeted to the treatment of veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan.  The V.A. funding includes $467 million for medical services, $32.5 million for medical and prosthetics research and $35 million for information technology.

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