This week CMS continued its rapid response—average approval takes less than a week—to review and approve Social Security Act Section 1115(c) Appendix K and Section 1135 waivers to facilitate state Medicaid programs’ efforts to address the COVID-19 pandemic. CMS approved waiver applications from Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Wyoming. As-of this posting, 34 states have sought and received waivers allowing increased flexibility to cope with COVID-19. Many of the waivers temporarily lift prior authorization requirements, permit use of alternative care settings and ease provider enrollment requirements to facilitate beneficiaries’ access to care, and relax timelines for fair hearings and other requirements. CMS is posting the waiver approval letters here.
