Hello Association Executives-
We have heard from a number of you about concerns and the impact of the Change Healthcare cyberattack. The National Association of Medicaid Directors sent us the message below and is seeking examples of the impact to BH providers. Please send your examples to me at KeishaP@thenationalcouncil.org.
We issued a statement late yesterday calling for HHS to provide PHE-like flexibility for Medicaid programs to respond to Change Healthcare impacts. To date, the actions HHS announced have all been focused on Medicare and haven't afforded states the needed flexibility to respond.
We have three asks of HHS:
- Programs need flexible authority from HHS and CMS to make retainer payments that qualify for federal match, can be instituted immediately and are made with recognition of the difficulty of documenting services in the near term. This approach was used during the COVID-19 public health emergency, and it was a lifesaver.
- Programs need flexibility to waive utilization management practices and co-payments that are embedded in their state plans.
- Programs need assurances that federal audit agencies will consider the context of this urgent set of circumstances and hold programs harmless from typical documentation requirements.
Also, any examples you can send us around specific BH provider impacts you're hearing would be very helpful.
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Keisha Pitts
National Council for Mental Wellbeing
Washington DC
202-684-7457
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