Today's deep dive: Nebraska's Medicaid work rules at six months, with about 1,100 denials as of August, a 66% jump in calls to the state, and who the rules do and don't cover. Here is the rest of today's news.
CMS CARE rule is published; comments due Jan. 11, 2027 The proposed Cutting Administrative Requirements for Excellence in Patient Care rule (CMS-3484-P) appeared in the Federal Register on Nov. 10, opening a comment period that closes Jan. 11, 2027 (docket CMS-2026-3631 on Regulations.gov). For intermediate care facilities for people with intellectual disabilities, it would drop the rules on educating staff about the COVID-19 vaccine and offering it to them, defer to the Life Safety Code on windows in client bedrooms below ground level, and end state reporting of the share of ICF/IID payments spent on support-staff pay. CMS is also asking for ideas to address direct care worker shortages in nursing facilities and ICFs/IID. Our Nov. 5 story has more on the proposal. Source: Federal Register
Rural Health Transformation: $10 billion in year-two awards CMS announced $10 billion in fiscal 2027 awards on Nov. 9, bringing the five-year, $50 billion program created by H.R. 1 to $20 billion awarded so far. Each state gets $100 million in equal baseline funding; Texas got the largest total, about $282 million, followed by Alaska, Montana, California and Oklahoma, Stateline reported, while New Jersey's $142.3 million was the smallest. CMS said awards partly reflected state progress, including policies such as the Presidential Fitness Test. LeadingAge told McKnight's Home Care that traditional home health and home care remain largely absent from state plans, and the National Alliance for Care at Home urged states to fund home and community-based services on equal footing with institutions. Sources: CMS, Stateline, McKnight's Home Care
The Arc and VOR join call to reverse Medicaid cuts and defend Olmstead Five national groups that say they have "historically and vigorously disagreed" on many policies, The Arc of the United States, the Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law, the Center for Public Representation, the National Health Law Program and VOR, issued a joint statement Nov. 9. They called for reversing H.R. 1's Medicaid cuts and criticized the Justice Department's June 18 legal opinion that the ADA and Section 504 don't require services in the most integrated setting. Source: The Arc
North Carolina relaunches a smaller Healthy Opportunities Pilot NC Medicaid will restart its Healthy Opportunities Pilot in early 2027 using $9 million in state budget money, about $25 million with federal match, the state health department said Nov. 9. The scaled-down pilot will cover only weekly healthy food boxes for food-insecure members who are pregnant or have diabetes or heart disease, in the same three regions and 33 counties. Source: NCDHHS
ACL to roll out updated family caregiver strategy Nov. 19 The Administration for Community Living will mark National Family Caregivers Month with a Nov. 19 event in Washington, 10 a.m. to noon ET, launching updates to the National Strategy to Support Family Caregivers. It will be livestreamed at HHS.gov/live; in-person registration closes Nov. 16. Source: ACL