States’ applications for federal Medicaid waivers often lack transparency, according to a new report by the U.S. Government Accountability Office.

According to the GAO, the chief problem with the transparency of state applications for Medicaid waivers arises when states either seek to amend waivers they have already obtained or amend waiver applications currently under review by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.  Too often, the GAO found, states neither subject such amendments to public review and comment nor adequately explain to stakeholders the implications of the amendments they are proposing.

To address this problem, the GAO recommends that CMS address these shortcomings.  CMS agrees with these recommendations.

States often use section 1115 Medicaid waivers to seek exemptions from selected aspects of federal Medicaid law so they can employ new approaches to the delivery of Medicaid services and to payment for those services.

Learn more about why the GAO undertook this analysis and what it found in its report Medicaid Demonstrations:  Approvals of Major Changes Need Increased Transparency.…

The federal government is considering providing an unusual amount of federal Medicaid matching funding for only partial state Medicaid expansion.

At least that’s what Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services administrator Seema Verma told a health care conference in Georgia last week.

The state of Georgia has proposes partially expanding its Medicaid population.  Under the Affordable Care Act, states that fully expand their Medicaid programs under the terms established by the 2010 health care law receive nine dollars in federal matching funds for every one dollar they spend on their Medicaid expansion population.  States that only partially expand their Medicaid programs, on the other hand, currently are eligible to receive only their usual federal matching rate:  generally one federal dollar for every state dollar, with states with higher poverty rates receiving as much as slightly more than three dollars for every state dollar they spend.

Last week, however, CMS’s Verma said that when Georgia submits its Medicaid waiver application to CMS seeking only partial expansion of its Medicaid program, the federal agency will consider providing Affordable Care Act-level Medicaid matching funds rather than the traditional federal Medicaid matching rate.

Learn more about the Georgia plan for partial Medicaid expansion and …

The federal government has greatly increased the speed with which it is reviewing and approving state applications to modify their Medicaid programs.

Most often, such applications involve Medicaid state plan amendments and section 1915 waiver requests.

According to a recent post on the CMS blog (in CMS’s own words),

• Between calendar years 2016 and 2018, there was a 16 percent decrease in the median approval time for Medicaid SPAs [note:  state plan amendments].
• Seventy-eight percent of SPAs were approved within the first 90 day review period during calendar year 2018, a 14 percent increase over 2016.
• Between calendar year 2016 and 2018, median approval times for 1915(b) waivers decreased by 11 percent, 1915(c) renewal approval times decreased by 38 percent, and 1915(c) amendment approval times decreased by 28 percent.
• The backlog of pending SPA and 1915 waiver actions pending additional information from the states was reduced 80 percent from previous years.

Learn more in the CMS blog entry “CMS Streamlines Medicaid Review Process and Reduces Approval Times so States Can More Effectively Manage Their Programs.”…

The Trump administration is considering changing how the federal government measures inflation for the purpose of calculating the federal poverty level.

Such a change, if implemented, could potentially reduce inflation-related increases in the federal poverty level, which in turn could limit the ability of some individuals and families to qualify, or continue to qualify, for a variety of public safety-net services – including, potentially, Medicaid.

Among the possible alternatives to the current methodology for calculating inflation is the Chained Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers.  The Obama administration also explored substituting this index for the current inflation factor.

The federal Office of Management and Budget has issued a request for comment about various inflation factor calculation alternatives.  Go here to see OMB notice Request for Comment on the Consumer Inflation Measures Produced by Federal Statistical Agencies.  Comments are due in late June.  Learn more from the New York Times article  “Trump Administration Seeks to Redefine Formula for Calculating Poverty.”…

A 2018 law calls for the Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission to report to Congress on institutions for mental diseases, or IMDs, receiving Medicaid payments.  The law specifies that MACPAC solicit input from a variety of sources, including the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, state Medicaid and mental health agencies and authorities, Medicaid insurers, Medicaid advocates, and others.

To help fulfill this requirement, MACPAC is now soliciting views from stakeholders.  Among the many subjects on which MACPAC seeks input are (in MACPAC’s words),

• state requirements, including certification, licensure and accreditation applied to IMDs seeking Medicaid payment and how states determine if requirements have been met;
• standards (e.g., quality standards, facility standards, and clinical standards) that IMD providers must meet in order to receive Medicaid payment and how the state determines if standards have been met;
• a description of IMDs receiving Medicaid payment including the number of these facilities, and the types of services provided; and
• a description of Medicaid funding authorities used to pay IMDs and any coverage limitations placed on the scope, duration or frequency of services provided in IMDs.

MACPAC’s report to Congress is due at the end of the year and comments on the …