Medicaid stakeholders have a new resource to mine in “Medicaid.Gov.” CMS opened the mine on Monday for prospecting and you’re bound to find, through the site’s updated search functionality, some of those elusive nuggets of information previously not available or buried so deep within the old CMS website that no amount of blasting could unearth. An example of the ease of use is that State Medicaid Letters, State Health Official Letters, Informational Bulletins and Regulations now are available in a single location and searchable by topic. So no more panning in separate places to access the different sources of information on the same topic.
The CMS announcement of the new site noted that it is part of the agency and administration’s promise to transparency and information sharing (thanks to our friends at CMS). Evidence of the commitment to transparency is the reporting of approved and pending state waivers, a true “Mother Lode” for state advocates.
Other Medicaid and CHIP nuggets you’ll discover as you pan through this new website, which are searchable by population, topic or state, include:
* Eligibility, benefits and cost-sharing
* Outreach and enrollment policies such as Presumptive Eligibility or Express Lane Eligibility
* Enrollment data (total served, not point in time enrollment through 2010)
* State templates
* Audio Recordings of the recent National Enrollment and Eligibility Conference
* Links to the Code of Federal Regulations embedded at strategic places
* Frequently asked questions
Like any website, it’s a work in process. I came in short on a couple of searches. For example, I couldn’t find State Medicaid or CHIP Plans. It would be great to see them there, including approved and pending state plan amendments (SPA). Of course, it also would be great to see current state-by-state enrollment, disenrollment and other data posted regularly. And the challenge for CMS (and any website host) is to keep the site current in this fast-paced policy environment.
If you’ve bookmarked any pages on the old website, you’ll be directly to similar but not always the same information on Medicaid.gov. For example, my old link to State CHIP plans brought to me to a section about CHIP program design but not the State CHIP plans.
There’s a prominent icon/link to submit website suggestions. So be sure to give feedback when you find a shiny nugget or when your panning comes up with rocks and not precious metal. You can also sign up for regular updates by going here.
