CMS Grants 30-Day Extension on State Spending Plans for Temporary HCBS FMAP Bump

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced in a state call that it would grant states an additional 30 days to submit plans on how they intend to spend a temporary 10-percent Medicaid rate increase for the Home and Community Based Services (HCBS) program. The original deadline for the plan was June 12, but states can individually request a 30-day extension. When creating this funding through the American Rescue Plan Act, Congress stipulated that it must be used to enhance and supplement, not supplant, existing Medicaid HCBS funding. States must submit these spending plans to CMS to explain how they would comply with that requirement.

More information is available in:

• These slides from the CMS state call announcing the extension.
• This updated Kaiser Family Foundation brief on the state-by-state impact of the temporary rate increase.

Although at this point, implementation of the temporary rate increase is in the hands of states, ANCOR has been assisting state provider associations with messaging encouraging state officials to use this funding to strengthen the direct support professional workforce.