CMS Releases Request for Information on “Access to Coverage and Care in Medicaid and CHIP”

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a Request for Information (RFI) entitled “Access to Coverage and Care in Medicaid & CHIP” as part of CMS’ strategy to implement a comprehensive access strategy for Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). The RFI builds on a similar RFI from 2015 to inform a comprehensive access strategy to enable CMS to better monitor and take action to ensure more equitable access for all Medicaid and CHIP populations. The current RFI is broader, however, than the 2015 request and is focused on carrying out CMS’s strategic vision for Medicaid and CHIP through three key areas: (1) coverage and access, (2) equity, and (3) innovation and whole-person care.

The RFI provides is a 60-day comment period. ANCOR plans to submit comments that will highlight the direct care workforce crisis as a critical barrier to access.