NEWS FLASH

Report: Administration Open To Rolling Back ACA Provision In Debt Ceiling Talks | Inside Health Policy’s Amy Lotven is reporting that debt ceiling negotiators are considering a new blended rate for Medicaid matching funds that would increase the federal government’s minimum contribution from 50 to 60 percent for all beneficiaries after 2014. The change “would advantage some states but would also impact the newly eligible beneficiaries” who would no longer be guaranteed a 100 percent match, as stipulated in the current law. “If enacted, the change would represent the first time the administration has walked back its health law guarantee that the federal government will cover initial costs of the health reform law’s Medicaid expansion, which makes this a difficult political decision,” she writes. “Stakeholders believe that the policy would result in fewer enrollees” because “states would be less likely to aggressively push enrollment if they had more responsibility to cover the costs.”