MS Awarded 10-Year Extension of 1115 State Medicaid Waiver
Mississippi will receive a ten-year extension for its 1115 CMS waiver to increase the number of people who qualify for family planning benefits.
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By - Mississippi will be the first state to receive a 10-year extension of a 1115 Medicaid waiver, CMS announced. The waiver originally implemented in 2003, expands eligibility requirements for individuals who can receive family planning benefits.
The demonstration, entitled “The Mississippi Family Planning Medicaid Waiver,” will decrease age and income requirements for residents eligible to receive family planning benefits until the year 2027.
Mississippi residents ages 13 to 44 with incomes up to 194 percent of the federal poverty level (FPL) can now receive subsidized contraception, STI testing, STD examinations, and education on family planning services from Medicaid providers.
Individuals that receive family planning benefits under the demonstration can’t be enrolled in Medicaid, Medicare, CHIP, or another health plan that includes family planning services.
The waiver approval further CMS’s mission to empower states to create flexible Medicaid programs that assist each state’s unique healthcare needs, said CMS Administrator Seema Verma.
“This is the first ten-year demonstration extension in the history of CMS, and allows Mississippi to administer its Medicaid program without the inconvenience of obtaining routine approvals from CMS,” Verma said. "This action shows our continuing commitment to giving states the flexibility they deserve to meet the unique needs of their people."
CMS made changes to the Special Terms and Conditions of the waiver including annual monitoring reports and calls between Mississippi Medicaid administrators and CMS. CMS provided a reporting and monitoring template that streamlines patient outcomes information to CMS.
Leaders at CMS praised Mississippi's waiver approval as a prime example of how state and federal leaders can improve the efficiency of the Medicaid program.
"CMS has responded to state requests to reduce administrative burden," said Center for Medicaid and CHIP Services Director and Deputy Administrator Brian Neale. “Mississippi's waiver shows the concrete steps we are taking to improve efficiency across the board and throughout the country."
