CMS Refocuses on its Core Mission and Preserving the State-Federal Medicaid Partnership

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is taking action to preserve the core mission of the Medicaid program by putting an end to spending that duplicates resources available through other federal and state programs or isn’t directly tied to healthcare services.  Mounting expenditures, such as covering housekeeping for individuals who are not eligible for Medicaid or high-speed internet for rural healthcare providers, distracts from the core mission of Medicaid, and in some instances, serves as an overly-creative financing mechanism to skirt state budget responsibilities. CMS sent a letter to states notifying them that it does not intend to approve new or extend existing requests for federal matching funds for state expenditures on these two types of programs — designated state health programs (DSHP) and designated state investment programs (DSIP).  DSHPs and DSIPs are state-funded health programs that, without “creative interpretations” of section 1115 demonstration authority, would not have qualified for federal Medicaid funding.