Medicare Compliance & Reimbursement

If you care for Medicaid beneficiaries in your state, the feds have some good news in these troubled times.

On March 27, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) approved the 34th state Medicaid waiver request as part of its 1135 waiver authority as outlined in the Social Security Act (SSA) provisions after public health and national emergencies were announced. The agency recognizes that state Medicaid providers are working round the clock to care for the nation’s most vulnerable patients as they battle the 2019 novel coronavirus (COVID-19) in their individual states.

“These approvals provide states new flexibilities to focus their resources to provide the best possible care for their Medicaid beneficiaries in response to the coronavirus outbreak,” explains CMS in a release.

In addition to the 1135 waivers, the agency accepted “eight state requests to invoke emergency flexibilities in their programs that care for the elderly and people with disabilities in their homes and communities,” CMS says. “These approvals give states a range of flexibilities including the ability to enroll out-of-state or new providers more quickly, temporarily delay Medicaid hearings to focus resources, and temporarily suspend prior authorization requirements.”

See if your state’s Medicaid program is approved for an 1135 waiver at www.medicaid.gov/state-resource-center/disaster-response-toolkit/federal-disaster-resources/index.html.