News Release

HHS Grants Medical Care Payments for Evacuees in Mississippi

State Made Whole for Costs Now, Including Medicaid and Uncompensated Care

Mississippi will get new immediate support for the medical care provided to Hurricane Katrina evacuees, including money for uncompensated care, under an agreement with the federal government. The agreement makes it easier for eligible evacuees to receive services through the state�s Medicaid and State Children�s Health Insurance Programs (SCHIP), HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt announced today.

�Mississippi was not only was hit hard by Katrina, it is also providing refuge to people whose homes and jobs were lost,� Secretary Leavitt said. �Today�s agreement implements the President�s vision to ensure that Mississippi and its residents will get the help they need in the wake of this disaster, including help with providing needed medical care.�

Today�s action eliminates the need for time-consuming paperwork, and makes it easier for people to access to health care now, without waiting for Congress to act,� said Mark B. McClellan, M.D., Ph.D., administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), the agency that oversees Medicaid and SCHIP. �This waiver also supports innovative approaches to providing benefits that are far from standard approaches in Medicaid, including new interactions with expanded community-based health care centers, mobile units for providing basic care at convenient locations for evacuees and new referral networks. These immediate responses developed by health care professionals and local officials in the state don�t fit the traditional Medicaid model, but they are getting the job done on the ground right now for the people who need it.�

Last week, Secretary Leavitt wrote the states outlining a model waiver agreement for Hurricane Katrina evacuees. The provisions in the model waiver closely reflect those in the waiver approved for Mississippi. CMS is working closely with a number of other states seeking this special hurricane disaster relief.

The agreement with Mississippi would enable evacuees who have little ability to pay for care to get coverage through Medicaid or SCHIP for up to five months, even if they do not have the usual documentation. This emergency Section 1115 waiver developed by HHS to ensure that evacuees in need of medical care have immediate access to it.

Under the waiver, needed medical services will be delivered through Mississippi programs to evacuees who are children up to age 19 and their parents, pregnant women, individuals with disabilities, low-income Medicare beneficiaries and those who need long-term care and meet certain income requirements. Evacuees will be asked to complete a simplified application form declaring their income and assets, if any. The program will last through Jan. 31, 2006.

Evacuees will receive the standard Medicaid benefit package plus certain additional benefits, such as additional mental health coverage.

The agreement also would create an uncompensated care pool to help compensate physicians, hospitals, and other health care providers who provide needed medical treatment to evacuees who do not currently have health insurance and are ineligible for Medicaid or SCHIP. The state will also work to identify ways to assist these individuals in obtaining private insurance, as they transition from evacuee status to getting a job and a home.

�We intend to work quickly to build on this program to provide immediate relief for evacuee health costs,� said Dr. McClellan. �We are working with other states that are hosting evacuees to provide similar support for their health care.�