ANCOR is sharing this announcement by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) because supports for people with disabilities are mostly funded by Medicaid. Some saw this regulation as a direct message from the Administration to labor unions who in part received union dues permitted by this rule.
As shared by CMS:
“Today the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released the Medicaid Provider Reassignment Regulation final rule that, as proposed, removes a 2014 regulatory provision that allowed states to divert part of a Medicaid provider payment to third parties that could then be used to fund other costs on behalf of the provider. After further review, CMS determined that this provision may have resulted in provider payments being diverted in ways that do not comport with the law, and, in some cases, may have occurred without the express knowledge of the provider. CMS received more than 7,000 comments from the public, healthcare providers, unions, state agencies, and advocacy groups during the comment period for the proposed rule.
“The CMS finalized a rule on Thursday to no longer allow unions for home healthcare workers to get dues paid via state Medicaid payments.
The rule, which overturns a 2014 rule, no longer allows a state to divert payments from Medicaid to anyone but the provider with few exceptions. The agency charges that the 2014 rule that allowed unions to get dues from payments stretches the meaning of the federal statute and must be struck down.
‘This final rule is intended to ensure that providers receive their complete payment, and that any circumstance where a state redirects part of a provider’s payment is clearly allowed under the law,’ CMS Administrator Seema Verma said in a statement.
[…]
The final rule, which was originally proposed in July 2018, maintains that it does not prohibit home healthcare workers from joining a union.”
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