Medicaid Beneficiaries

On Monday, August 22, 2022 CMS released the Money Follows the Person (MFP): Updated State Transitions annual report for calendar years 2017 to 2020. The MFP demonstration, established by Congress through the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005, enables state Medicaid programs to help Medicaid beneficiaries who live in institutions transition into the community, and gives people with disabilities and older adults more choice in deciding where to live and to receive long-term services and supports. From the time transitions began in 2008 to the end of 2020, states had transitioned 107,128 people to community living through MFP. The brief shows how MFP transitions varied by state and target population over time.

CMS released a bulletin addressing frequently asked questions regarding Electronic Visit Verification (EVV) requirements to beneficiaries receiving in-home care. This bulletin responds to questions surrounding beneficiaries with live-in caregivers, services delivered partially in the beneficiary's home, the provision of medical supplies, equipment, and appliances as a component of the Medicaid home health benefit, and the use of web-based timesheets as an EVV method.

This brief highlights the importance of ongoing litigation around the ACA and discusses Medicaid demonstration waiver activities. It also addresses the recent passage of bi-partisan legislation with new tools and financing that states can use to strengthen their response to the opioid crisis. Finally, the brief reviews issues including Medicaid financing for Puerto Rico and USVI; Medicaid and public charge changes; and reforms in benefits, payment and delivery systems.

This brief from the Kaiser Family Foundation describes what the Medicaid eligibility work requirements would be in each state, including what would count as work activities, the hours required, and what the common exemptions to the requirements would be. The brief also describes key issues to consider in implementing such requirements, such as administrative costs, potential confusion over documentation requirements and the risk that some people will lose coverage for which they remain eligible.

This letter from CMS is about how they will offer additional flexibilities to help states improve access to and quality of substance use disorder treatment through Medicaid 1115 demonstrations. CMS’s main goal is to support state initiatives to improve access to treatment by requiring less upfront administrative process barriers for approvals of state initiatives to improve access to treatment by requiring less upfront administrative process barriers for approvals of state initiatives.