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Katrina Waiver Summary Information Hurricane Katrina was one of the worse natural disasters in our country. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), the Federal governmental agency that oversees the Medicaid and State Children's Health Insurance Programs (SCHIP), responded to the health care needs of beneficiaries and medical providers affected by Hurricane Katrina. CMS developed a State Medicaid Director's letter announcing a Section 1115 model waiver template to provide expedited Medicaid/SCHIP health care coverage to meet the needs of low-income beneficiaries who needed health care and eliminated barriers in an effort to support evacuees. Under these demonstrations, States were granted waivers of Federal requirements to allow for flexibility, administrative efficiency, and additional coverage needed to ensure that each Home State's (the States most affected by the storm – Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi) most vulnerable citizens received the health care services they required. The demonstration programs were implemented on August 24, 2005 and continued through June 30, 2006. CMS approved 32 State demonstration programs. Of these 32 State programs, CMS approved 8 uncompensated care pools to be used to reimburse providers that incurred uncompensated care costs for medically necessary services and supplies for evacuees. Special terms and conditions of approved demonstration programs required States to submit final reports to CMS no later than December 31, 2006. The final reports indicate that the States' experience overall was positive. Not one State believes that evacuees' health care needs were not met. CMS prepared a report summarizing the impact of the Section 1115 Hurricane Katrina demonstrations.
Page Last Modified: 06/02/2008 3:38:57 PM
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