In this letter to Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Administrator Seema Verma, MACPAC expresses concern about the agency’s decision to distribute the first wave of funding to health care providers under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act, P.L. 116-136) based on institutions’ Medicare fee-for-service revenues.
While the Commission expresses appreciation for the decision to move the initial $30 billion in federal funding quickly in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, it questions using the expedited Medicare fee-for-service electronic funds transfer pathway to do so. In the Commission’s view, this pathway does not account for the real and pressing concerns of safety-net providers that are on the frontlines of serving the nation’s poorest and most vulnerable people, but may not have high Medicare revenue. The letter concludes by urging the agency to prioritize the needs of providers serving Medicaid and other low-income populations when determining how the remainder of federal funding to providers will be distributed.
MACPAC sent a second letter following up on CARES Act distribution on April 30, 2020.