Pressure Grows on CMS to Get Tough When Reviewing State Medicaid Cuts

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Advocates for people with disabilities want federal Medicaid officials to set tougher standards when reviewing states' requests for deep cuts to the state-federal health program for low-income people.
The issue came to a head last month after California asked for permission to slash its Medicaid payments to hospitals and nursing homes by 10 percent, among other cuts. To advocates' surprise, Gov. Jerry Brown's (D-Calif.) massive request for $1.4 billion in cuts was just a few pages long and did not include any evidence documenting that they wouldn't harm the state's most vulnerable residents.