State Leaders Push To Increase Medicaid Reimbursement Rates

Recognizing that Connecticut’s low Medicaid reimbursement rates restrict access to care for Medicaid beneficiaries and are a key driver of higher private insurance costs, State Comptroller Sean Scanlon says he will prioritize pushing for a funding increase during the 2025 Legislative Session.  This week, Scanlon discussed his proposed plan to pay for the rate increase on WNHH FM’s ​“Dateline New Haven” program.

“We’re going on 20-plus years that these doctors and hospitals have been getting paid the same thing to care for our most vulnerable people…  We can’t keep ignoring these Medicaid rates.  The single most important thing we can do for healthcare in Connecticut is to raise those rates,” Scanlon said, explaining that raising rates is a bipartisan issue and lawmakers on both sides of the aisle agree the fix is overdue.  “Everybody knows we should do it.  It’s a question of finding the money.”

Scanlon said the strict fiscal guardrails pose an obstacle.  “What I am going to propose is an idea that I hope people will consider about how we can adapt them – not change them but just adapt them.”

That proposal is spending a small percentage of the receipts from quarterly returns.  Scanlon says his goal is to strike the balance between paying down debt and saving for rainy days and freeing up money to meet the needs of the public.

“When your payer mix is half government and the government is giving you less than it costs to care for that person, you have to make that up somewhere…  We can lower the cost of healthcare for everybody,” Scanlon said, emphasizing how raising Medicaid reimbursement has a positive impact on all patients.

During the program, Scanlon also commended the work of the Comptroller’s Healthcare Cabinet members to find common ground and collaborate on policy proposals to make healthcare more affordable, equitable, and accessible.

CHA continues to advocate for the solutions hospitals and health advocates have long encouraged to address the underfunding of Medicaid.  Last year, the Office of Health Strategy (OHS) reported that Medicaid only reimbursed 62 cents on the dollar in FY 2022 for hospital services.  A Department of Social Services (DSS) report released earlier this year confirms Medicaid underpayment is impacting patient care.

Read more about Scanlon’s plan in the New Haven Independent.