Waivers
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Public Comments are Virtually Unanimous Against Mississippi’s Harmful Medicaid Proposal
Last month, federal CMS reopened the public comment period on Mississippi’s proposed Section 1115 Medicaid work requirements waiver at the same time as Kentucky’s comment period was reopened. Mississippi’s proposal has not garnered as much attention as Kentucky’s, which as regular readers of SayAhhh! know, is currently on hold due to a federal court decision.…
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Coverage Losses Begin From Mean-spirited Trump Administration Medicaid Policy
The first round of data just released by the state of Arkansas (the first state nationwide to implement a work requirement with a lockout) shows that 4,353 adults lost coverage retroactively to September 1st. The data continue to show a clear lack of awareness about the new reporting requirements with thousands more set to lose…
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CMS Receives Outpouring of Public Comments on Kentucky and Mississippi Medicaid Waivers (Including some from us here at CCF!)
The public has spoken! When the public comment period closed on the Kentucky and Mississippi Medicaid waivers this weekend, a whopping 11,700+ comments had been submitted on Kentucky’s and 330+ were submitted on Mississippi’s. While the Mississippi numbers were not as eye-popping as Kentucky’s, it’s important to view that number in context — as only…
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After Two Months Under New Work Requirements, Thousands of Arkansans May Lose Medicaid Without Even Realizing the Rules Changed
Arkansas’s Department of Human Services released numbers on its work requirement late Tuesday and they continue to suggest that the rollout of the new work requirements policy is extremely flawed and that thousands could lose coverage by September 1. Since this is now the second month of the work requirement rollout, a large group of…
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Lawsuit Challenges Arkansas’s Medicaid Work Requirement
Back in 2014, Arkansas expanded Medicaid through a section 1115 demonstration waiver referred to as the ‘private option.’ Newly eligible Medicaid beneficiaries enrolled in private market plans on the ACA’s Marketplace and the state defrayed the costs and offered wrap-around benefits. A preliminary evaluation of the private option showed that Arkansas cut its uninsured rate…
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Oklahoma’s Proposed Work Rule Would Harm Mothers and Children
Oklahoma has one of the highest uninsured rates for children in the nation, and the state will likely make matters worse if it gets a green light from CMS to go through with a plan to impose more red tape requirements on poor parents. Oklahoma is seeking approval to amend its Section 1115 demonstration waiver…
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New Waiver Proposal for Oklahoma Medicaid Beneficiaries Would Harm Low-Income Families With Children
Introduction Oklahoma is planning to ask federal permission to impose a work requirement on very low-income parents and caregivers receiving health coverage through Medicaid. Under the proposal, these beneficiaries would have to document that they are working at least 20 hours a week or participating in job-training or volunteer activities in order to maintain their…
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Medicaid Waiver Wars: CMS Strikes Back
Late last month, a federal District Court ruled that the approval of the Kentucky Medicaid work requirements waiver by the Secretary of Health and Human Services was “arbitrary and capricious” because, among other things, even though the record showed that 95,000 people would lose Medicaid coverage, “the Secretary paid no attention to that deprivation.” The…
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Medicaid and Work: Fact and Fiction in Government Reports
Last week saw the release of two reports on Medicaid and work. One, from the nonpartisan Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission (MACPAC), an arm of the Congress, is fact. The other, from the White House Council of Economic Advisors (CEA), is fiction. The difference matters, because it goes to the basic identity of…
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Public Comments Reflect Strong Opposition to Proposed CMS Medicaid Access Rule
Public comments matter – the recent federal court decision on the Kentucky HEALTH waiver proved that. And they matter not just on Section 1115 waivers; they matter on regulations as well. Under the Administrative Procedures Act, federal agencies have to provide the public with an opportunity to comment on a proposed regulation, and it has…
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Why Aren’t Arkansas Medicaid Enrollees Reporting Work Verification Data?
NPR By: Jacob Kauffman More than a quarter of the 27,000 Arkansans subject to a new work requirement in order to keep Medicaid coverage did not satisfy the state’s new reporting rules, according to state officials. … Marquita Little, health policy director for Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families, says she is concerned that people…
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A Disturbing Trend of Hiding the Coverage Losses is Emerging in Medicaid Waivers
For those of us closely watching the action on new Section 1115 Medicaid research and demonstration waivers that the Trump Administration has been inviting and approving this year, the recent court decision putting a hold on Kentucky’s plans was welcome news. The court ruled that the Secretary’s decision in granting the Medicaid waiver was “arbitrary…
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States Weigh Extending Medicaid for Beneficiaries Who Work
CQ By: Misty Williams States seeking to require people on Medicaid to work are proposing to temporarily extend coverage for those who get jobs but end up earning too much money to qualify for the program. … A study released earlier this year estimated 8,700 low-income parents and caregivers in Alabama could be kicked off Medicaid…
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Fact check: NC Democrat says Mike Pence expanded Medicaid in Indiana
News Observer By: Paula Specht Democrats in North Carolina argue the state should expand Medicaid to help residents pay for health care. … “In Indiana’s case their waiver contained elements like some increased cost sharing and health savings accounts — other states that have expanded Medicaid have used some of these ideas too,” said Adam…
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Work requirements to qualify for government aid: How well does it work?
Catholic News Service By: Mark Pattison Ever since the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 — longhand for “welfare reform” — became law, the federal government has imposed work requirements for adults receiving Temporary Assistance for Needy Families money. … Andy Schneider, a research professor at the Center for Children and Families in Georgetown…
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The Kentucky Medicaid Waiver Approval: How Do You Spell “Arbitrary and Capricious”?
Late last Friday, a federal District Court overturned the approval of the Kentucky HEALTH waiver by the Secretary of HHS and sent it back to the agency. As a result, Kentucky could not implement work requirements or other harmful changes – premiums, lockouts, elimination of retroactive coverage, etc. – on July 1, as it had…
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Arbitrary and Capricious: Kentucky Can’t Require Medicaid Beneficiaries to Document Work in Order to Have Coverage
Seema Verma, the CMS Administrator, has been relentless in her efforts to rewrite the Medicaid statute by encouraging states to require “able bodied” adults to document work in order to qualify for Medicaid. The resulting blizzard of red tape would predictably lead to large coverage losses and redefine Medicaid as a welfare rather than a…
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Doctors, Patients and Many Others Voice Strong Objections to Florida’s Plan to End Retroactive Medicaid Coverage
Florida recently submitted a Section 1115 Medicaid waiver request to eliminate 90-day retroactive coverage for everyone in Florida’s Medicaid program, except children and pregnant women. As we wrote in our joint comments, this is a bad idea that will expose families to medical debt and providers to higher uncompensated care costs. There is absolutely no…
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The Limits to Trump’s Medicaid Freedom for States
Governing By: Mattie Quinn Ever since being elected, President Donald Trump has vowed to give states more flexibility to enact their own health care policies. … Last month, CMS rejected a waiver from Kansas that would have set a three-year time limit for people to use Medicaid. “I was pleasantly surprised by that,” says Joan Alker,…
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What South Dakota’s Medicaid Waiver Application Doesn’t Tell You
South Dakota is in the process of applying for a Section 1115 waiver that will allow it to impose a work requirement on very poor parents in two counties, Minnehaha and Pennington, for five years, with the option to expand to other counties. The state Medicaid agency posted the application for public comment on May…
