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More Information House Oversight Committee Report on State-by-State Impact of the seven rules (3/3/08) Bazelon Center Summary of the case management rules (HTML or easy-to-print PDF)

Urgent Action Alert

Vote Imminent on Bill to Delay Harmful Medicaid Rules

Ask Your Representative to Support H.R. 5613

April 23 Update: The House approved the bill 349-62.

April 21, 2008—Last week, The House Energy and Commerce Committee approved 46-0 legislation to delay until April 9, 2009 implementation of seven cost-cutting Medicaid regulations issued by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. (See the Bazelon Center’s latest Mental Health Policy Reporter.)

The Protecting the Medicaid Safety Net Act of 2008 (H.R. 5613), sponsored by House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman, John Dingell (D-MI) and Representative Timothy Murphy (R-PA), would place a moratorium on rules that would severely affect access by vulnerable beneficiaries to needed Medicaid services, including those provided through Medicaid’s rehabilitation option, case management option and school-based administration and transportation services. The bill is set to be considered on the House floor on Tuesday, April 22nd.

H.R. 5613 is supported by a diverse range of stakeholders, including organizations representing people with disabilities, children and families, hospitals, providers and state Medicaid directors. Despite bipartisan, unanimous support from the committee of jurisdiction, it has drawn a veto threat by the President (see letter by HHS Secretary Michael O. Leavitt to House Energy and Commerce Chairman, John Dingell and Ranking Member, Joe Barton).

Please Act Now!

Implementation of the Administration's damaging rules must be stopped!
Contact your Representative today to urge support of the bipartisan Protecting the Medicaid Safety Net Act of 2008, H.R. 5613, imposing a moratorium on all seven harmful Medicaid regulations.

Please check to see If your Representative has already cosponsored the bill or is a Member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, if so, thank them for their support (for list of committee members, http://energycommerce.house.gov/membios/110fullmship.shtml; to find sponsors, go to http://thomas.loc.gov, search by bill number H.R. 5613, go to Bill Summary, then click on Cosponsors).

The following members particularly need outreach. If you are a constituent of one of them, please contact him or her to urge support for H.R. 5613.

• Spencer Bachus (R-AL);
• Jo Bonner (R-AL);
• Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV);
• Vernon Ehlers (R-MI);
• Rodney Frelinghuysen (R-NJ);
• Wayne Gilchrest (R-MD);
• Ric Keller (R-FL);
• Mark Steven Kirk (F-IL);
• Ray LaHood (R-IL);
• John Mica (R-FL);
• Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL);
• Jim Saxton (R-NJ);
• Jean Schmidt (R-OH);
• Chris Smith (R-NJ);
• Lamar Smith (R-TX);
• Zach Wamp (R-TN);
• Joe Wilson (R-SC);
• Frank Wolf (R-VA)
  

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