As we continue to unpack the Families First Coronavirus Response Act, we thought we’d take a closer look at how the bill will impact pregnant women covered by Medicaid and CHIP. First, some important background. Eligibility. Medicaid and CHIP offer multiple coverage pathways for pregnant women, including mandatory and optional coverage groups. Medicaid requires coverage […]
CMS has created a helpful template to make it easier for states to make temporary changes to their Medicaid State Plans during the COVID-19 National Emergency. For most strategies, states need only check off options on the template or, in some cases, provide brief descriptions of the groups or populations affected by the change. The […]
On March 24, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued guidance related to the temporary increase in the federal Medicaid matching rate (FMAP) included in the Families First COVID-19 response legislation (P.L. 116-127). As we have explained, Families First would increase the FMAP by 6.2 percentage points for all states and territories starting […]
Yesterday, I blogged about my favorite provision in the Families First Coronavirus Response Act that requires states to freeze disenrollment in Medicaid through the duration of the public health emergency in order to receive the 6.2 percentage point bump in the state’s regular federal Medicaid matching rate (FMAP). Sadly, the disenrollment freeze does not apply […]
Introduction Section 1135 of the Social Security Act allows the Health and Human Services Secretary to waive or modify certain Medicare, Medicaid, and CHIP requirements during a national emergency. The purpose of this authority is to ensure that during an emergency sufficient health care services are available to Medicare, Medicaid, and CHIP `beneficiaries. As of March 13, […]
Over the weekend, CCF posted a brief explaining the Medicaid and CHIP provisions in the Families First Coronavirus Response Act enacted on March 18, 2020. In particular, we highlighted four requirements that states must meet in order to qualify for the 6.2 percentage point FMAP bump. Like the current maintenance of effort (MOE) protecting Medicaid […]
