HCAOA Joins Three Other National Associations in Meeting with CMS Administrator about Medicaid Proposed Rule

Last week, HCAOA Board President Jeff Wiberg and CEO Vicki Hoak met with CMS Administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure to discuss the Medicaid Proposed Rule, which would require 80% of Medicaid reimbursement to go to worker wages. HCAOA was one of four national groups in the meeting, including the American Network of Community Options and Resources (ANCOR), the National Association for Home Care and Hospice (NAHC), and the Partnership for Medicaid Home-Based Care (PMHC).

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​Esme Grewal, VP for Government Relations for HCAOA member BrightSpring Health Services, has led the collaboration of the four national groups since the proposed rule was announced.

“We are grateful for Esme’s outstanding leadership and commitment to ensuring the voice of the home and community-based care providers is heard,” Hoak said. “Leading a group like this is no easy task, and she has done it with grace and patience.”

Joining Administrator Brooks-LaSure at the meeting was Dan Tsai, Deputy Administrator and Director for Medicaid and CHIP, and Hannah Katch, Senior Advisor in the Office of the Administrator. CMS reported that more than 2,000 comments have been received on the proposed rule. While most of the discussion focused on the group’s serious concerns with the 80/20 proposal, the group also emphasized the many positive aspects of the proposal including standardizing quality measures and reporting requirements, guidance on incident reporting and increasing advisory and stakeholder input.

HCAOA President Jeff Wiberg talked about the impact of the financial mandate on his home care organization. Serving many clients in rural areas in Washington and Oregon, Wiberg explained that the remaining 20% would not come close to covering other costs including nurse supervision, which is required, training and mileage reimbursement.

HCAOA will continue to work with the collaborative group and update members.