On June 4, 2018, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) unveiled a new performance scorecard offering critical metrics on state health system performance, state administrative performance, and federal administrative performance under Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP).

On May 7, 2018, Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner announced that Illinois has won federal approval to launch a 5 year, $2 billion Medicaid behavioral health services initiative.  The initiative will be implemented by the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services in collaboration with the Governor’s office and eleven other Illinois state health and human services agencies.  Objectives of Illinois’ initiative include...

On March 23rd, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a proposed rule that would exempt states from requirements to analyze and monitor access to care in the Medicaid program under certain circumstances. The proposal seeks to amend 42 CFR 447.203(b), which sets forth the process for states to document whether Medicaid payments in fee-for-service (FFS) delivery systems are sufficient to ensure appropriate access to services.

On April 2, 2018, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued instructions to Medicare Advantage plans encouraging more flexible service coverage policies in such plans for 2019. Such capitated plans cover the same services as traditional, fee-for-service Medicare, plus supplemental benefits adopted by the plan with CMS approval. Under the new CMS instructions, any Medicare Advantage plan would have additional flexibility to cover supplemental benefits to compensate for physical impairments, diminish the impact of injuries or health conditions, and/or reduce avoidable emergency room utilization.