Review of the Equal Access Final Rule

This slide set, presented at MACPAC’s December 2015 meeting, reviews Methods for Assuring Access to Covered Medicaid Services, a final rule issued by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) on November 2, 2015. The final access rule details how states should monitor and report on access to care in their fee-for-service (FFS) Medicaid programs. It focuses primarily on what states must do to document their approach to monitoring access (particularly when payment changes are made), and to include input from beneficiaries and providers in the review process. The Commission commented on the proposed Medicaid access rule when CMS released it in in 2011.