CMS considering whether to withdraw Medicaid work authorities

Posted on: 2/19/21

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services is determining whether to withdraw its authority for nine states to implement work requirements as a condition of Medicaid eligibility under Section 1115 demonstration waivers approved by the former administration. In letters sent last week to health officials in Arkansas, Georgia, Ohio, Nebraska, Indiana, Arizona, Wisconsin, South Carolina and Utah, CMS Acting Administrator Elizabeth Richter said the agency was commencing a process of determining whether to withdraw those authorities. It is likely that the Biden administration will reject the work requirement waivers of Alabama, Idaho, Montana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, South Dakota and Tennessee that were submitted last year, but not yet approved by CMS. (AHA Today, Feb. 17, 2021)