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Roadmap Helps States Speed Medicaid Enrollment

Report Explains How State Officials Can Facilitate Enrollment
December 13, 2013

A new report provides a “roadmap” for how states can secure a fast-track waiver from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to hasten Medicaid enrollment for low-income parents and other adults. As states expand their Medicaid programs to enroll millions who are newly eligible, fast-track waivers allow them to use existing financial data, such as information from Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Programs—formerly known as food stamps—to quickly determine eligibility.

 

The report identifies specific ways states can implement fast-track enrollment, with examples from Illinois and Oregon, which are already streamlining enrollment.

 

“As state officials expand Medicaid to millions of low-income adults, they need to ensure that the enrollment process is as quick and seamless as possible,” said Deborah Bae, a senior program officer at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. “Fast-tracking enrollment is one way states can simplify the process to ensure that people have quicker access to coverage, and get the health care they need.”

 

This report was prepared by Manatt Health Solutions as part of the State Health Reform Assistance Network, a program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

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