Summary of article from Foley & Lardner LLP, by Anil Shankar:
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) introduced two significant updates to its Medicaid regulations on May 10, 2024: the Medicaid Access Rule and the Medicaid Managed Care Rule. These updates aim to enhance and standardize reporting, monitoring, and evaluation of Medicaid services, potentially increasing Medicaid reimbursement. The new rules require states and Medicaid managed care plans to report and analyze payment rates and access to services, and to implement corrective action plans for identified access deficiencies. The Managed Care Rule introduces federal “appointment wait time” standards and allows states to increase Medicaid reimbursement to match commercial plan rates. Lastly, the Access Rule establishes a numerical floor for Medicaid rates and requires at least 80% of Medicaid payments to home and community-based service providers to be spent on direct care workers’ compensation.