CMS Reject’s Ohio’s Latest Section 1115 Waiver Proposal

The U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) recently rejected the State of Ohio’s proposal for a new Section 1115 Demonstration Waiver program.  Section 1115 of the Social Security Act [see 42 U.S.C. 1315] authorizes the Department of Health and Human Services Secretary to waive certain provisions of the Medicaid law to give states flexibility to design and improve the Medicaid and CHIP programs.  CMS rejected the Healthy Ohio proposal, because the new program would have charged “premiums, regardless of income, to the 600,000 individuals in Ohio’s new adult group, as well as hundreds of thousands of low income parents, foster care youth, and beneficiaries with breast and cervical cancer.”  CMS was “concerned that these premiums would undermine access to coverage and the affordability of care, and do not support the objectives of the Medicaid program.”  This recent program rejection does not affect Ohio’s other current waiver programs.  For additional information, see the Ohio listings on the Medicaid.gov State Waivers List page.