NCMS and Its Partners Formally Object to State’s 3 Percent Rate Cut

In a letter to North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (NC DHHS) Sec. Aldona Wos, the North Carolina Medical Society (NCMS) and 20 other state health care organizations formally lodged objections to the 3 percent rate cut to physicians being pursued by NC DHHS.

The letter explains that the budget provision passed by the General Assembly last summer requires a shared savings plan be developed in which 3 percent would be withheld from physician payments once a specific plan is in place allowing doctors to earn back those withheld funds. The state is seeking to implement this cut retroactive to Jan. 1, 2014.

“The Department’s decision to modify payment rates departs significantly from the explicit instructions that it has received from the General Assembly,” the letter states. DHHS is seeking a state plan amendment from the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services (CMS) to enact this 3 percent cut. NCMS and the other letter signatories are asking the state to withdraw their request and make changes that reflect the legislature’s intent to develop a true shared savings plan. NCMS and the other organizations also are addressing the objections to CMS directly.

Read a copy of the letter here.

 
 

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