On September 17, 2019, Tennessee released its proposal to block grant most of the funding the state’s Medicaid program (TennCare) receives from the Federal government. If approved by CMS, the amendment to the state’s longstanding 1115 waiver program would make Tennessee the first state in the nation to move to a true “block grant” format for Medicaid funding. A draft of the proposed waiver is available on the state’s website —… More
We frequently read about state Medicaid programs receiving or being granted “waivers” by CMS, but what does that mean exactly? What is a “waiver”? What is the history of Medicaid waivers? How does the process work? We hope to answer these questions in this blog post.
The Legal Standard
A “waiver” refers to authority that the Secretary of Health and Human Services possesses under section 1115 of the Social Security Act:
“(a) In the case of any experimental,… More