CMS Denies Approval For Louisiana Plan To Privatize State-Owned Health Care Facilities

On May 2, 2014, the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) informed the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals (DHH) that its proposed financial “hold harmless” arrangements to privatize state-owned health care facilities would not be approved. The CMS rationale is that the proposed arrangements appear to allow the state to use advance lease payments from the private organizations to cover the state’s Medicaid match responsibility. As a result the three Medicaid state plan amendments (SPAs) DHH had submitted would not be approved. SPA 13-23 would provide for supplemental Medicaid payments for inpatient hospital services . . .