NAPH and Other Stakeholders Urge Congress to Increase Medicaid Primary Care Rates - January 20, 2010

On January 12, NAPH, along with 117 other providers, patients, and labor organizations sent a letter to congressional leaders, including Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, and committee chairs, urging that the finalized health care reform bill include a House provision that would increase Medicaid reimbursement rates for primary care to rates provided under Medicare. The letter noted that Medicaid rates for primary care, on average, are only 66% of the rates under Medicare, and suggested that a failure to equalize the reimbursement levels would jeopardize access to care by America's most vulnerable populations. Should Congress adopt the House provision, Medicaid reimbursement rates would increase over a four-year period to the levels provided under Medicare.