U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Frequently Asked Questions

Frequently Asked Questions are used to provide additional information and/or statutory guidance not found in State Medicaid Director Letters, State Health Official Letters, or CMCS Informational Bulletins. The different sets of FAQs as originally released can be accessed below.

Showing 1 to 10 of 45 results

When will the Basic Health Program be operational?

Given the scope of the coverage changes that states and the federal government will be implementing on January 1, 2014, and the value of building on the experience that will be gained from those changes, HHS expects to issue proposed rules regarding the Basic Health Program for comment in 2013 and final guidance in 2014, so that the program will be operational beginning in 2015 for states interested in pursuing this option.

Supplemental Links:

FAQ ID:92141

SHARE URL

What approaches are available to states that are interested in the Basic Health Program in the interim?

HHS is working with states that are interested in the concepts included in the Basic Health Program option to identify similar flexibilities to design coverage systems for 2014, such as continuity of coverage as individuals' income changes. Specifically, we have outlined options to states related to using Medicaid funds to purchase coverage through a Qualified Health Plan (QHP) on the Marketplace for Medicaid beneficiaries (PDF, 242.79 KB). Additionally, some states with current Medicaid adult coverage expansions are considering offering additional types of assistance with premiums to individuals who will be enrolled in QHPs through the Marketplace. HHS will review all such ideas.

Supplemental Links:

FAQ ID:92146

SHARE URL

How is the demonstration year defined? For example, if a state has a fiscal year starting on July 1, 2016 and ending on June 30, 2017, is the Upper Payment Limit (UPL) demonstration entered with the SFY 2016/17 State Plan Amendment considered to be a "2016 demonstration" or a "2017 demonstration"?

The UPL demonstration year is defined according to the last year encompassed by the demonstration. For example, a UPL covering the period 07/01/2016 to 06/30/2017 is defined as the 2017 UPL.

FAQ ID:92231

SHARE URL

Does CMS participate in the state's life cycle gate reviews?

No. CMS does not participate the state's in E&E or in MMIS system development life cycle (SDLC) level reviews.

FAQ ID:95056

SHARE URL

Does the IV&V 18-month compliance period apply to E&E systems?

Yes. The rules pertaining to procuring IV&V contracts (State Medicaid Director Letter 16-010) apply to both E&E and MMIS.

FAQ ID:95061

SHARE URL

Do the documents in the artifacts table need to be created for every module?

In most cases once they are created, the documents will simply be updated to account for the additional modules being planned or developed. A new document is not necessarily created for each module. If a state calls a document by a different name, the state should inform CMS of the name difference.

FAQ ID:95076

SHARE URL

CALT is no longer available. Where should state artifacts and evidence be posted?

Granting CMS direct access to the state's evidence repository is the preferred method for making evidence available to CMS. If that is not possible, the state may make other secure arrangements with CMS, such as using encrypted File Transfer Protocol (FTP). It is critical to follow all Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) regulations when submitting evidence that contains personal health information (PHI) and personally identifiable information (PII).

FAQ ID:95081

SHARE URL

Should IV&V progress reports include all the checklist sets every time they submit a progress report?

No. Only the checklists pertaining to the modules undergoing review need to be included, and that only for the report created in preparation for a milestone review. However, the IV&V progress report should include risks and recommendations for the entire project--not just those about to undergo a milestone review.

FAQ ID:95086

SHARE URL

Why are there Standards and Conditions (S&C) and Access and Delivery (A&D) criteria in the Information Architecture checklist?

When streamlining the core checklists (IA, TA and S&C checklists), we found that some criteria fit better in other checklists, so they were moved. To keep traceability simple for the states, we chose to keep the original identifiers for any criteria that were moved. The same holds true for criteria moved to the programmatic tab of the IV&V progress report template.

FAQ ID:95091

SHARE URL

Are Eligibility and Enrollment (E&E) systems now going to be certified the way MMIS systems are certified?

No, E&E systems are not subject to certification. Though the Medicaid Eligibility and Enrollment Toolkit (MEET) was based on the MMIS toolkit, the MEET was created as a way to align how CMS reviews Medicaid enterprise systems and is a means for CMS to provide technical assistance to the states.

FAQ ID:95096

SHARE URL
Results per page