Capitol Correspondence - 02.11.19

CMS Granting Waivers to End Medicaid Retroactivity

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ANCOR is sharing this article by Modern Healthcare because despite the article being focused on hospitals, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) waivers described in it are often written generally enough to have direct or indirect effects on intellectual / developmental disability (I/DD) support providers. Most I/DD services operate on a non-profit basis and have limited financial ability to sustain unexpected costs, which affects the quality of supports for individuals with disabilities overall.

As written by Modern Healthcare:

“[On] Feb. 1, Florida ended retrospective Medicaid eligibility under a waiver granted by the CMS in November and effective through June, which likely will be extended. Now it will only cover claims back to the first day of the month in which an application is filed. The state projects this will save it and the federal government $100 million a year. The Trump administration so far has granted similar waivers to five other states.

[…]

Over the past two years, despite strong objections from hospitals and other provider groups, the CMS has granted waivers of 90-day retrospective eligibility to Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Iowa and Kentucky. Some were part of broader Medicaid Section 1115 demonstrations of work requirements. Maine also received a waiver but its new Democratic governor announced she won’t implement it. The CMS is considering similar waiver requests from Ohio and other states. 

In its approval letters, the CMS argued that demonstrations ending 90-day retrospective eligibility will test whether that gives beneficiaries an incentive to enroll in Medicaid before they need healthcare services, so they can receive preventive services and stay healthier. It also says the change will facilitate a smoother transition of beneficiaries into commercial health plans, which don’t offer retroactive coverage. 

[…]

Under previous administrations, Delaware, Indiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Tennessee received waivers of the federal requirement for retrospective eligibility, typically as part of coverage expansions. In contrast, the Trump administration’s waivers have been part of programs to restrict coverage.

Most of these waivers retain retroactive coverage for pregnant women, infants, disabled people and those in nursing homes. Florida’s waiver, however, excludes such coverage for the nursing home population.

[…]

In addition, Iowa, which expanded Medicaid in 2014, has not conducted any review of the cost savings to the government or of the financial impact on providers and beneficiaries, according to a spokesman for the Iowa Department of Human Services. The CMS, he said, did not require the state to conduct such a report on the impact of eliminating retrospective eligibility. “We’ve made so much progress with Medicaid expansion to reduce uncompensated care, and this really undermines that progress,” McIntyre lamented.

There’s already an effort to roll back the new retrospective eligibility waiver in Florida, which didn’t expand Medicaid, so that it applies to nursing home residents and all other Medicaid eligibles except pregnant women and children.”