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August 20, 2015      7:56 PM

Updated: Document shows new proposed Medicaid cuts would be wider but not as deep

The cuts described would be much shallower and distributed more broadly than originally proposed, but there is a catch

Editor’s note: A copy of the documentation can be found toward the end of this story – SB

New documentation has surfaced showing that controversial Medicaid cuts in a program for poor children would now be less severe than had been originally proposed, Quorum Report has learned tonight.

During depositions for a lawsuit filed against the Health and Human Services Commission to stop the controversial cuts to a therapy program for disabled kids, HHSC entered into evidence a new draft copy of Medicaid reimbursement rates, a source connected with the suit told QR.

Accompanying the revised rate schedule was an apparent explanatory memo, though neither document has been confirmed by HHSC as the agency’s work product.

The cuts described would be much shallower and distributed more broadly than originally proposed, according to the documents. The accompanying memo also says the the new rates, which impose a flat 15 percent cut on most Medicaid programs, were based on an external group’s analysis of 11 other states’ Medicaid pay schedules.

By Emily DePrang