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Tribal Technical Advisory Groupto the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services |
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CMS Issues Proposed Rule on State Flexibility in Establishing Non-emergency Medical Transportation8-27-2007Yesterday, CMS placed on display at the Office of the Federal Register a proposed rule with comment period regarding non-emergency medical transportation (CMS-2234-P). Prior to the enactment of the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 (DRA, P.L. 109-171), a State that wanted to provide transportation as medical assistance under the State plan could not selectively contract with a broker nor provide services differently in different areas of the State without receiving a waiver of freedom of choice, comparability, and state-wideness under section 1915(b) of the Social Security Act (the Act). These waivers allowed States to selectively contract with brokers and to operate their programs differently in different areas of the State. Section 6083 of the DRA amended section 1902(a) of the Act to provide a new state plan option to establish a non-emergency medical transportation brokerage program without regard to statutory requirements for comparability, state-wideness, and freedom of choice. The DRA gives the States greater flexibility in providing non-emergency medical transportation. States are no longer required to obtain a section 1915(b) waiver in order to provide non-emergency transportation as an optional medical service through a competitively contracted broker or undergo the administrative burden of the 1915(b) biannual waiver renewal. The proposed rule may be accessed on the CMS website at: www.cms.hhs.gov/MedicaidGenInfo/08_Medicaidregulations.asp The proposed rule was published in the Federal Register today. Webpage and Listserv Information
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