WASHINGTON, DC - The House Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee, chaired by Rep. Joe Pitts (R-PA), today approved the State Flexibility Act of 2011, H.R. 1683, by a vote of 14 to 9.
The State Flexibility Act of 2011, authored by Rep. Phil Gingrey, M.D. (R-GA) and Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA), repeals the Medicaid Maintenance of Effort requirements first imposed in the stimulus and eventually incorporated into the health care law; these rules prevent governors from improving verification measures and better targeting their investments to serve those individuals most in need.
“Again and again, we heard from governors who spoke about how broken the Medicaid program is in their respective states, how it is eating up an ever increasing portion of their state budgets, and, more than anything else, we heard how states want to have the flexibility to tailor their Medicaid programs to the needs of their individual states and citizens," said Chairman Pitts. “The State Flexibility Act would simply repeal these MOE requirements and allow states, most of which are facing unprecedented budget crises, to make commonsense reforms, including eliminating waste, fraud, and abuse, in order to balance their budgets and save their Medicaid programs."
