CMS give states more time to update Medicaid access monitoring plans

Due to the COVID-19 public health emergency, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services yesterday extended by two years the deadline for states to submit updated plans to monitor access to care for Medicaid beneficiaries. The original deadline was Oct. 1, 2022. Under a 2015 final rule, states must update at least every three years their plans to review access to five “core services”: primary care, physician specialists, behavioral health, pre- and post-natal obstetrics (including labor and delivery), and home health services. CMS also encouraged all stakeholders to participate in its recent request for information on barriers to accessing Medicaid and CHIP coverage and services; comments are due April 18.