Washington Update: Medicaid/CHIP News (7/11/18)

Medicaid Work Requirements

As reported in the July 3 Update, a federal district court invalidated the waiver that the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) had granted to Kentucky to allow the state to establish work requirements as a condition of Medicaid eligibility. The court’s ruling was based on the fact that the administration failed to consider a “salient factor” in deciding to grant a waiver — the waiver’s impact on furnishing medical assistance – and remanded the waiver application to HHS for proper evaluation. CMS Administrator Seema Verma said that the agency will be conferring with the Department of Justice to consider next steps. For more information about this case and other states’ work requirements, see Stewart v. Azar and the Future of Medicaid Work Requirements: What Are the Takeaways, and What Happens Next? (Blog of the Commonwealth Fund, 7/3/18) and Despite U.S. Court’s Ruling, Medicaid Work Requirements Advance In Other States (Kaiser Health News, 7/2/18).

EVV Good-Faith-Effort Exemption Requests

Beginning on January 1, 2019, states will be required to use electronic visit verification for Medicaid home visiting services, but states may apply for a 1-year delay through the ‘good-faith’ exemption. On June 28, 2018, CMS posted a clarification regarding the process of applying for this exemption.

WORTH REPEATING: Informational Bulletin on Medicaid Home and Community-based Services

As announced on June 28, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released an Informational Bulletin on ensuring the health and welfare of individuals receiving Medicaid-funded Home and Community Based Services (HCBS). The Centers for Medicaid & CHIP Services (CMCS) Informational Bulletin follows up on a joint report issued in January 2018 by the Office of Inspector General, the Office of Civil Rights, and the Administration for Community Living, focusing on individuals with developmental disabilities living in group homes. The Informational Bulletin addresses one of the three suggestions in the Joint Report: to encourage states to implement compliance oversight programs for group homes and regularly report to CMS.

MEDICAID RESOURCE

Medicaid Social Media Toolkit 

The American Association on Health & Disability has developed a social media toolkit for Medicaid. The toolkit provides sample social media posts as well as graphics and relevant hashtags which can be combined to underscore the importance of the Medicaid program, particularly for people with disabilities. The toolkit also provides lists of social media accounts to follow, digital materials, and Medicaid statistics. The toolkit is available on the website of the National Disability Navigator Resource Collaborative, where it can be downloaded as a zip drive.