Related Resources
- Medicaid Enterprise Systems Compliance and Reapproval Process for State Systems with Operational Costs Claimed at the 75 Percent Federal Match Rate
- Streamlined Modular Certification State Medicaid Director Letter #22-001
- State Health Official Letter #25-003
- SMC Guidance
- Medicaid Enterprise Systems Testing Guidance Framework
- Streamlined Modular Certification Intake Form
- Operational Report Workbook Template
- Monthly Project Status Report Template
- CMS MES Certification Repository on GitHub
The following documents are also available on the MES Certification Repository: Intake Form with EVV Outcomes, Certification Request Letter Template, and System Acceptance Letter Template.
The Center for Medicaid and CHIP Services (CMCS) is responsible for overseeing compliance with 42 CFR Part §433, Subpart C, and 45 CFR Part §95, Subpart F, including administrative simplification and various federal and state initiatives relevant to the modernization of Medicaid healthcare systems. The Data and Systems Group (DSG) within CMCS provides oversight, funding, technical assistance, and guidance to state Medicaid agencies for their Medicaid enterprise systems (MES). States’ systems enable efficient operations of the Medicaid and CHIP programs by supporting information technology functions related to beneficiary eligibility, enrollment, care management, and other beneficiary-facing tools. These systems also serve provider enrollment and payment, benefits management, data analytics and reporting, health information exchange, fraud, and abuse detection, and more.
On April 14, 2022, CMS issued State Medicaid Directors Letter (SMDL) #22-001, which sunsets the Medicaid Enterprise Certification Toolkit (MECT) and the Medicaid Eligibility and Enrollment Toolkit (MEET) and replaces them with a more efficient SMC process for Medicaid IT projects.
In the State Health Official (SHO) letter #25-003, issued on August 6th, 2025, CMS announced the discontinuation of the Electronic Visit Verification (EVV) Outcomes-Based Certification (OBC) and incorporated the EVV module into the SMC process, along with further improvements to the SMC process as outlined in the SMC Guidance.
States are now required to follow the SMC Guidance for all relevant Medicaid IT projects moving forward and should reach out to the MES Certification Team directly or via email at MES.Certification@cms.hhs.gov with any questions.