CMS NEWS
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
August 20, 2018
Contact: CMS Media Relations
(202) 690-6145 | CMS
Media Inquiries
CMS
Awards $8.6 Million in Funding to States to Help Stabilize Markets
The State Flexibility Grant Awards will help States strengthen the
private health insurance market through innovative measures
Today, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid
Services (CMS) awarded $8.6 million in funding to 30 states and the
District of Columbia to provide State insurance regulators with the
opportunity to enhance States’ ability to strengthen their respective
health insurance markets through innovative measures that support market
reforms and consumer protections under the Patient Protection and
Affordable Care Act (PPACA). States can use the funds for activities such
as:
·
Conducting economic analyses and market scans of the State’s
health insurance market to improve and expand the number of affordable
healthcare coverage options under new flexibilities offered to states by
CMS guidance and regulations; and
·
Examining plan policies, procedures and claims related data
related to access to mental health and substance use disorder treatment
services, including opioid treatment services.
“These grants build on CMS’s ongoing efforts
to give states the tools and flexibility they need to help people
struggling to afford the year over year premium increases caused by
Obamacare regulations,” said CMS Administrator Seema Verma. “We
recognize that States are in the best position to assess the needs
of their consumers and develop innovative measures to ensure access to
affordable health coverage. These grants make yet
another down payment on our work to enhance States’ ability to
stabilize and improve their respective health insurance markets.”
This funding is part of $250 million for State
Rate Review Grants provided by the PPACA to improve the process for how
States review proposed health insurance rates. The funds announced today
are unspent Rate Review Grant funding from prior years that are available
to the Secretary to award grants to States for planning and implementing
federal insurance reforms and consumer protections. Since some states
either did not request funding from CMS or completed their Rate Review
Grant project under budget, funds were returned. In October 2016,
CMS used unspent funds from the Rate Review Grants to award the Health
Insurance Enforcement and Consumer Protections Grants. Additional funding
still remains and CMS is in a position to award funds for this new grant
that provides States with resources to support the establishment of
innovative measures to improve their markets. The grants awarded today will
have a project and budget period of 24 months from the award date, August
16, 2018, to August 14, 2020. All states that
applied are receiving funding.
To see the funding allocated to each state,
please click here: https://www.cms.gov/CCIIO/Programs-and-Initiatives/Health-Insurance-Market-Reforms/Downloads/state-flexibility-grant-fact-sheet.pdf
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