Today's deep dives: CMS will let states hold off on Medicaid work-rule denials and disenrollments through June 30, 2027, and Missouri plans to move the 5,152 people its own staff still case-manage to contracted agencies by the end of 2027. Here is the rest of the news.

Indiana families question FSSA's new waiver assessments A Loogootee mother told WRTV's I-Team that the state's new Medicaid waiver assessment of her son, who has autism, took 2 hours and 20 minutes and used questions he could not understand; he kept his waiver. The Family and Social Services Administration says the tool is about identifying needs, not saving money, and that 96.5% of applicants now meet the criteria, a 3.5% denial rate, compared with the 6% the station reported this summer and 0.02% under the old process. FSSA says 500 people who were in active appeal are being reassessed, it has added 800 Family Supports Waiver slots, and it tightened assessor procedures after an internal review; The Arc of Indiana has filed a public records request on how the results drive eligibility. Our Oct. 2 story covers the end of FSSA's pause on denials. Source: WRTV

Colorado's governor urges Medicaid cuts even after a tax measure passed Voters' approval of Amendment 87, a graduated income tax on income above $500,000 expected to raise about $2 billion next fiscal year, means Colorado's Joint Budget Committee no longer has to make $1.6 billion in cuts, including a proposed $600 million from Medicaid, The Colorado Sun reported. Gov. Jared Polis told the committee on Nov. 12 to trim Medicaid anyway, warning that within three years unchecked growth would absorb all of the new money, and he blamed private equity as the main driver of rising costs; the Sun noted private equity's presence in in-home care and autism treatment, among the areas driving the fastest cost growth. Gov.-elect Phil Weiser may change the budget requests after he takes office in January. Source: The Colorado Sun

North Carolina explains how CAP/CD workers get the Aug. 1 rate increase NC Medicaid issued guidance Nov. 13 on applying the Aug. 1, 2026, rate increase for hands-on care in the Community Alternatives Program Consumer Direction (CAP/CD). People using the agency-led model get the higher rates automatically, with no plan of care update. In the consumer-directed model, the employer of record negotiates caregivers' pay, so workers whose services qualify get the higher rate through a negotiated rate change. Source: NC Medicaid