According to senior agency officials, the Center for Medicaid and Medicare Services is formulating minimum federal health care standards and the principles of Medicaid exemption, and is working with states to improve eligibility and redefine it.

CMS Administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure and Director of the Medicaid and Child Health Insurance Program Service Center Daniel Tsai wrote an article Blog post The Ministry of Health Affairs divides the agenda of these projects into three areas: expanding coverage and accessibility, improving equity, and encouraging innovation.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Medicaid registrations have skyrocketed, partly because states are required to keep their rosters in order to obtain additional federal funding in the event of a public health emergency.Medicaid covers Over 80 million people According to the latest CMS data, as of May.

Brooks-LaSure and Tsai write that CMS can and should do more to ensure that beneficiaries have real access to health care when they need it. The blog post stated that the agency will explore the establishment of uniform minimum access standards for Medicaid and CHIP beneficiaries, and will work with states to develop a strategy.

Brooks-LaSure said at the National Association of Medicaid Directors meeting on Tuesday that coverage is not necessarily the same as access to providers and medical services, and CMS needs to change this.

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Officials wrote in Health Affairs that CMS is developing a clear set of principles for 1,115 exemptions that allow states to change their Medicaid programs to promote health equity and financial management. They wrote that exemptions should seek to expand coverage, promote value-based care, and improve access to home care, mental health care, and treatment for substance abuse disorders.

CMS also looks forward to reinstatement of eligibility when the public health emergency is lifted. The agency’s Center for Consumer Information and Insurance Supervision is working with state officials to prepare them to make a new decision and direct unqualified people to other forms of insurance. CMS has provided guide Notify the states that they have one year from the end of the public health emergency to complete the new decision.

“As we move towards the final stage of the pandemic-at some point-we are very, very focused on ensuring that we are working with the states on all operational details for resuming Medicaid/chip eligibility renewal and ensuring that every eligible People’s Medicaid continues to underwrite,” Cai said at the Medicaid board meeting. “This will and will continue to be one of our top priorities.”

Another key goal is to shut down the so-called Medicaid coverage gapIn states that have not expanded Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act, an estimated 4 million low-income people cannot receive Medicaid or Medicare Exchange subsidy policies.President Joe Biden and Democratic congressional leaders are trying to advance Domestic Policy Act This will provide exchange subsidies for people in the Medicaid gap.

CMS leaders also targeted improving access to family and community services and emphasized the funding available to the state from the US Rescue Program Act. The Democratic Party seeks to pass the same legislation to add $150 billion to the initiative.