On Thursday morning, the Trump administration announced that it would take steps to overhaul Medicaid. Named the “Healthy Adult Opportunity,” Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Seema Verma said the new guidance would provide states the option to receive their federal Medicaid funding as a block grant, or a lump sum, to provide coverage to nondisabled adults, while providing states greater autonomy to manage their programs.
Under the new option, states can choose to cap the cash they receive from the federal government to a lump sum based on enrollment or a number negotiated with the CMS. This would likely be attractive to red states that want to limit spending, maintain greater flexibility, limit the size of the overall program and gain the opportunity to share in the ultimate cost-savings with the federal government.
The overhaul will have the largest impact on those adults who receive care through Medicaid expansion, a program under the Affordable Care Act that provides care up to 138 percent of the poverty level.
