CMS extends FL Medicaid demonstration waiver

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services last week extended Florida’s Managed Medical Assistance section 1115 demonstration waiver through 2022. It allows the state to operate a capitated Medicaid managed care program and low-income pool to provide continuing support for safety-net providers that furnish charity care to the uninsured. For the extension, CMS has established an amount for the Low-Income Pool – the state’s uncompensated care pool – to be approximately $1.5 billion annually, based on the most recent available data on hospitals' charity care costs. This is the first demonstration approved through CMS’s new approach to state reporting activities. The agency will monitor progress toward state-selected benchmarks and work with the state to design a meaningful program evaluation. For more, visit the CMS webpage.