The Associated Press interviewed Manatt's Deborah Bachrach, a partner in the firm's Healthcare practice, on the possible outcome of Pennsylvania's Medicaid expansion proposal that was submitted to the federal government in February.
The Associated Press reports that negotiations are expected to begin this month on Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett's 124-page proposed Medicaid expansion plan. Pennsylvania's application asks the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to break new ground on Medicaid policy, and it's unclear whether federal officials are ready to allow it. Instead, the agency could stick to allowing the kind of changes, called waivers, it has allowed in other states.
"It's reasonable to expect that Pennsylvania will receive the same flexibility that other states have received," said Bachrach, New York's former Medicaid director. "Whether or not CMS will go further depends on how the request is framed and the protections that would have to go along with the waiver."
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