CMS hands states more power for Medicaid waiver process

By Erica Teichert  | October 22, 2018

The CMS on Monday handed state governors significant power to overhaul their Medicaid programs and changed the way it will evaluate waivers.

In a dramatic overhaul of the current 1332 waiver process, the CMS said state legislatures will no longer have to approve waiver plans. Instead, governors will be able to take action on their own.

The agency also emphasized that state Medicaid waivers should encourage residents to consider "competitive private coverage" such as association health plans rather than government-sponsored health coverage.

"The analysis of comprehensiveness and affordability of coverage under a waiver should focus on the nature of coverage that is made available to state residents (access to coverage), rather than on the coverage that residents actually purchase," the CMS notice said.

Erica Teichert assigns, edits and directs news coverage for Modern Healthcare’s website and magazine. She previously served as the publication’s New York bureau chief and legal reporter. Before joining Modern Healthcare in 2016, she worked at Law360 as legal newswire’s first D.C. bureau chief after three years as a court reporter covering the U.S. Supreme Court, D.C. Circuit and other federal courts and agencies. Prior to that, she worked as an associate editor for FierceMarkets. She has a bachelor's degree in communications with a print journalism emphasis from Brigham Young University.

http://www.modernhealthcare.com/article/20181022/NEWS/181029996?utm_source=modernhealthcare&utm_medium=email&utm_content=20181022-NEWS-181029996&utm_campaign=mh-alert