Manatt Health partner Kinda Serafi spoke with MedPage Today on the impact that the President’s declaration of a national emergency in response to the COVID-19 pandemic has had on state Medicaid programs through 1135 waivers. In the article, Serafi highlighted that while other emergencies, like hurricanes or wildfires, only affect one or a few states, COVID-19 has a national and global impact. Given this, she noted that “when it's a one-state problem, you can have the whole CMS team on the phone and helping negotiate a rapid response, but now you've got 50 states plus,” which may create bandwidth issues at the state and federal levels.
Read the article here.