States now have until Oct. 1 to submit to the federal government their plans for monitoring Medicaid enrollees’ access to health care services, according to an April 8 final rule.
The new deadline for submitting plans to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) responds to concerns from states about meeting the initial deadline of July 1, which was included in the November 2015 Medicaid Equal Access final rule with comment period.
The final rule also responded to comments on the expansion of the services subject to review and exemptions based on high managed care enrollment or other program features. America’s Essential Hospitals urged CMS to add hospital services to the core list of services explicitly subject to regular review and is disappointed the agency failed to do so in the final rule. CMS noted that exemptions to the reviews, such as those based on high managed care enrollment or other program features, will be considered as further experience with the review process determines appropriate circumstances.
Contact Director of Policy Erin O’Malley at eomalley@essentialhospitals.org or 202.585.0127 with questions.
