The Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is expected to spend $3 billion dollars between fiscal 2016 and fiscal 2025 to help states upgrade and maintain their Medicaid eligibility and enrollment systems, Modern Healthcare first reports. The increase stems from CMS permanently raising the matching rate to 90% from 50% for money that states spend on building Medicaid eligibility & enrollment systems, and from 50% to 75% for maintenance and operations of those systems.
All states will be expected to take advantage of the boost in funding from the initial $1.1. billion over a four-year period that was previously announced. To date, only nine states have adequately updated and maintain their Medicaid eligibility and enrollment systems. It is estimated twenty-eight states are expected to sunset their existing legacy systems due to the ongoing 90% match. Modern Healthcare previously reported that states Alaska, California, Kansas, Michigan, Missouri and Tennessee were flagged by CMS for ongoing technical and administrative glitches that delayed Medicaid access.
