By George F. Indest III, J.D., M.P.A., LL.M., Board Certified by The Florida Bar in Health Law
On August 3, 2017, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) approved a five-year extension of Florida’s Managed Medical Assistance (MMA) section 1115 demonstration. It allows the state to operate a capitated Medicaid managed care program and a low-income pool (LIP) to provide continuing support for the safety net providers that furnish charity care to the uninsured.
CMS touted the approval as part of its efforts to give states more flexibility to design and tailor Medicaid programs to their specific needs.
Tools For More Effective Medicaid Programs.
This demonstration provides the state with new tools to help it meet the following goals:
• Provides necessary financial support to public teaching hospitals, children’s hospitals, and other hospitals for the care they furnish to low-income uninsured Floridians; and
• Strengthens the breadth of access to and quality of providers participating in Florida’s managed care program, including care provided by many Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHC) and Rural Health Centers (RHC).
“This program gives Florida the ability to care for its most vulnerable and at-risk citizens. Its renewal also provides flexibility to use the funds in a way that meets the unique needs of the State while reducing burden by eliminating duplicative reporting and documentation requirements,” said CMS Administrator Seema Verma. “This extension has a positive and direct impact on people’s lives and their ability to access care. Florida’s program offers an innovative and realistic pathway to tackling some of Medicaid’s biggest challenges.”
These changes are consistent with CMS’s commitment to lessen or remove inappropriately burdensome and/or duplicative state reporting activities.
For more information, click here.
To read the press release in full from CMS, click here.
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Sources:
AHLA Weekly. “CMS Approves Florida Medicaid Demonstration Under New Era of State Flexibility.” The American Health Lawyers Association. (August 3, 2017). Web.
“CMS Approves Florida Medicaid Demonstration Under New Era of State Flexibility.” CMS.gov. (August 3, 2017). Web.
About the Author: George F. Indest III, J.D., M.P.A., LL.M., is Board Certified by The Florida Bar in Health Law. He is the President and Managing Partner of The Health Law Firm, which has a national practice. Its main office is in the Orlando, Florida, area. www.TheHealthLawFirm.com The Health Law Firm, 1101 Douglas Ave., Altamonte Springs, FL 32714, Phone: (407) 331-6620.
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