The Medicaid Pay Parity program was a provision outlined within the Affordable Care Act that increased Medicaid provider reimbursement to match that of Medicare providers. This provision expired on December 31, 2014 and was not extended nationally. However, some states are choosing to continue Medicaid pay parity.
7 States chose to extend Medicaid pay parity: Alabama, Colorado, Iowa, Maryland, Mississippi, and New Mexico. In addition, Alaska is paying doctors even more than the Medicare rate.
8 states chose to increase Medicaid reimbursement, but not to the full Medicare rate: Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Maine, Michigan, Nebraska, Nevada, and South Carolina
In addition to these state legislative action, federal legislative action was taken in the form of the Medicaid Parity Act of 2015 (H.R.1502). This bill was introduced by Representative John Lewis on March 19, 2015 and was referred to the Subcommittee on Health on March 20, 2015. This bill seeks to amend title XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act to extend through 2019.
Another bill, the Ensuring Access to Primary Care for Women and Children Act, (H.R.2253), was introduced by Representative Kathy Castor in the House of Representatives on May 12, 2015. It was referred to the Subcommittee on Health on May 15, 2015. This bill seeks to amend title XIX of the Social Security Act to extend the application of the Medicare payment rate floor to primary care services furnished under Medicaid and to apply the rate floor to additional providers of primary care services.
Title | Source | Date |
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Docs push for Medicaid pay parity extension; 15 states set to continue hike | Clinical Psychiatry News | October 29, 2014 |
$3 Billion in Medicaid Funding Held Up in Legislature | Ozarks First | May 14, 2015 |
Limited access to primary care could be crowding Md.’s ERs | WTOP | May 11, 2015 |
Program aims to link newly insured to primary care doctors | West Virginia Gazette | May 4, 2015 |
The Importance of Medicaid Parity For Primary Care | The Morning Consult | August 10, 2014 |
Medicaid managed care provding more specialists, more success | The Augusta Chronicle | March 31, 2015 |
Health Home expansion to help patients with chronic health conditions | Alabama Medicaid Agency | March 6, 2015 |
Primary care doctors facing new cuts in reimbursements | Capital New York | March 19, 2015 |
A steady doctor for babies to call their own | M Live | March 5, 2015 |
Millions of children could soon lose their health insurance if Congress doesn’t act | Washington Post | January 21, 2015 |