Washington State will continue Medicaid waiver for five more years

The Health Care Authority (HCA) recently announced that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) approved a renewal for our state’s Section 1115 Medicaid demonstration waiver. We call this waiver the Medicaid Transformation Project (MTP), and the MTP renewal “MTP 2.0.”

MTP 2.0 began July 1, 2023.

What’s MTP and why renew it?

MTP is an agreement between HCA and CMS that allows our state to implement new policies and use federal Medicaid funds to improve Apple Health, Washington’s Medicaid program. Our current MTP demonstration ended June 30, 2023. MTP 2.0 will allow our state to continue to develop innovative projects, activities, and services that benefit Apple Health (Medicaid) enrollees.

Last summer, HCA and the Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS) applied to renew MTP. In the MTP 2.0 application, we proposed multiple changes to our existing MTP programs and proposed new ones. CMS approved most of these changes.

What does this mean to DSHS?

DSHS ALTSA Programs approved to continue

  • Medicaid Alternative Care (MAC) and Tailored Supports for Older Adults (TSOA), which:

    • Expands care options for older people so they can stay at home and delay or avoid more intensive services, such as moving to a nursing facility

    • Assists unpaid family caregivers, ages 18 or older, who provide care for their loved ones

    • The income limit for TSOA has been increased to 400% federal benefit rate and the resource standard has been raised. This means that more people are now eligible for assistance.

    • New services were added to the benefits package:

      • Pest Eradication

      • Nurse Delegation

      • Specialized Deep Cleaning

      • Community Choice Guides

  • Foundational Community Supports - Supported employment and Supportive housing

    • New addition of rental subsidies up to six months for Supportive Housing

DSHS ALTSA Newly approved programs

  • Innovations that support ALTSA clients by expanding use of presumptive eligibility to support access to and enrollment in home and community-based services.

Programs pending

Discussions/negotiations for these programs will continue past July 1, 2023.

  • Rental subsidies (beyond six months)

Program innovations that support older adults through coordinated personal care, guardianship and decision-making supports.

 

More information

To learn more, read the approval letter from CMS and visit the MTP renewal page. To learn more about MTP, visit the MTP website section

CHA Washington