CMS to issue guidance on alternative Medicaid financing approaches

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services will soon issue guidance that lays out opportunities to test new approaches to delivering and financing care for certain optional adult populations in Medicaid, CMS Administrator Seema Verma said today.
 
“Many states have expressed a willingness to be held accountable for improving outcomes in exchange for greater flexibility and budget certainty,” Verma told attendees at the National Association of Medicaid Directors conference in Washington, D.C. “Block grant and per capita cap proposals are two such alternative financing approaches. Some states have expressed a desire to explore such principles through section 1115 demonstrations. We are encouraged by this interest. You will soon see guidance from us that lays out initial opportunities to test new approaches to delivering and financing care for certain optional adult populations. The Medicaid Value and Accountability Demonstration won’t compromise important beneficiary protections, but it will inject rigorous accountability for outcomes, provide significant and unprecedented flexibilities for program operation, and offer opportunities for shared savings that can be reinvested back into Medicaid.”
 
She said the agency also plans to issue guidance to help states “maximize opportunities” to support value-based payment in Medicaid, and address the social determinants of health as part of a value-based strategy.