1115 Waiver Demonstration - MassHealth-October 2023 Amendment -Comments due Nov 29
We are forwarding the notice from CMS of a comment period on the 1115 amendment requests that MassHealth submitted on Oct 16, 2023. Comments to CMS are due Nov 29, 2023.
In September, MassHealth accepted comments on its proposed requests for 1115 amendments and its October request to CMS reflects various changes in response to public comments. One of the biggest changes was a new request for federal authority to provide, as a Health-Related Social Needs service, temporary housing assistance and supportive services for families and pregnant individuals, including newly arrived immigrants, who are enrolled as MassHealth members and who are eligible for Massachusetts’ Emergency Assistance family shelter program.
MassHealth is reopening the state-level comment period on its request for MassHealth beneficiaries in EA shelter. The extended state-level comment period is Nov 29, 2023, the same date as the end of the CMS comment period on all the amendment requests.
The proposed requests, the state-level public comments, the Oct 16 request to CMS including discussion of changes from the earlier proposal and the extended state-level comment period are all posted on MassHealth's 1115 website here
Info about the CMS comment period is below:
On October 16, 2023, Massachusetts submitted a request to amend its section 1115 demonstration, entitled "MassHealth Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Plan (CHIP) Section 1115 Demonstration," to 1) provide pre-release MassHealth services to individuals in certain public institutions; 2) provide 12 months continuous eligibility for adults and 24 months continuous eligibility for members experiencing homelessness who are 65 and over; 3) remove waiver authority of retroactive eligibility; 4) expand Marketplace subsidies; 5) expand health-related social needs (HRSN) services to include short-term post hospitalization housing and temporary housing for pregnant members and families; 6) increase HRSN integration funding; 7) extend Medicare Savings Program to the Commonwealth's statutory limit; and 8) preserve CommonHealth members' ability to enroll in One Care Plans. In this amendment, the Commonwealth aims to advance health equity by expanding coverage and further addressing members’ health-related social needs. The federal public comment period will be open from October 30, 2023 through November 29, 2023.