By Jocelyn Guyer

Georgetown University’s Center for Children and Families (CCF), along with more than 200 other organizations, joined together to submit comments to CMS in support of a proposed rule that would provide 90% matching funding for state Medicaid eligibility system upgrades. Organizations participating in this effort represented 41 states and the District of Columbia as well as prominent national groups such as the American Cancer Society, Families USA, Community Catalyst, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, American Academy of Pediatrics and AARP.   We are hopeful that this strong showing of support will result in an even better final rule.

The proposed rule will help state governments work better and more efficiently to meet the needs of residents. It goes straight to the heart of the infrastructure investment necessary for health reform to work for low-income people.

Many states operate decades-old Medicaid eligibility systems that are in dire need of modernization.  In these states, eligibility systems are  straining to keep pace with the large number of families losing jobs and often function only if caseworkers manually use “workarounds” to overcome computer-coding problems.  Now, with many more people expected to apply for insurance coverage through Medicaid, it is more important than ever to develop state-of-the-art, beneficiary-friendly Medicaid enrollment systems.

The overwhelming support for this rule should encourage CMS to approve it as soon as possible so that states can get to work making their systems work better for their residents.