Spotlight

CMS Tribal Consultation Policy

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) is pleased to announce that the agency finalized its Tribal consultation policy on November 17, 2011. A Dear Tribal Leader letter and a copy of the policy was distributed by mail to all 565 Tribes and distributed through CMS and national Indian organization listservs. (Tribal Leader letter , Tribal Consultation Policy )

Application for the Exchange, Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program

Background: Section 1413 of the Affordable Care Act directs the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services to develop and provide a single, streamlined application that may be used to apply for coverage through all of the insurance affordability programs. To this end, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is working to develop a single, streamlined application for the Exchange, Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program. The application is being designed by CMS in consultation with states, tribes, consumer groups, health plans and other interested groups. It will be a dynamic online application that will tailor the amount of data required from an applicant based on the applicant’s circumstances and responses to particular questions. The paper version of the application will not be able to be tailored in the same way, but will collect only the data required to determine eligibility. Our goal is to minimize the burden on families and states by developing an application that obtains sufficient information so that, in most cases, no further information will be needed from the applicant. 

In order to increase knowledge in Indian Country, the Tribal Affairs Group/Office of Public Engagement, CMS will host the following events: 

Single Streamlined Application Data Elements Webinar 
August 20, 2012 from 3:00‐4:00 pm, ET 
Call‐In Number: 877‐267‐1577; Meeting ID: 6599 
Webinar Link: https://webinar.cms.hhs.gov/data‐elements/ 
 

This webinar will provide an opportunity for Tribes, the Indian Health Service, Tribal and Urban Indian health programs to raise technical questions and concerns about the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) notice published in the Federal Register on July 6, 2012. The notice addresses the single, streamlined application data elements. CMS will discuss the published data elements.

Public comments will be accepted on the data collection requirements through September 4, 2012. You may access the notice at http://Federalregister.gov/a/2012‐16508. 

All Tribes’ Call 
September 7, 2012 from 1:00 – 2:30 pm, ET 
Call in Number 1‐800‐238‐9007; Pass code: 594395 

As a continuation of the HHS Tribal Consultations on Federal Facilitated Exchanges, CMS will host an All Tribes’ Call to provide Tribes with an opportunity to discuss the single, streamlined application. During the All Tribes’ Call, CMS will seek input regarding the application questions to solicit information from American Indians and Alaska Natives, such as Tribal membership status and Tribal income.