Special Notice

On November 2, 2015, the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) published a final rule implementing the equal access provision that requires state Medicaid agencies to develop a medical assistance access monitoring review plan. The review plan must consider:

1. The extent to which beneficiary needs are fully met;

2. The availability of care through enrolled providers to beneficiaries in each geographic area, by provider type and site of service;

3. Changes in beneficiary utilization of covered services in each geographic area;

4. The characteristics of the beneficiary population (including considerations for care, service and payment variations for pediatric and adult populations and for individuals with disabilities); and

5. Actual or estimated levels of provider payment available from other payers, including other public and private payers, by provider type and site of service.

The rule requires states to develop review plans and update them periodically. States must make plans available to the public for at least 30 days, finalize them, and submit them to CMS for review. The plan is due by October 1, 2019.

The final rule excludes access reviews for Medicaid managed care arrangements.

In further efforts to provide comparable access to that which is provided to non-Medicaid enrollees, and in accordance with 42 CFR 447.203, the Division of Medicaid and Health Financing has developed an Access Monitoring Review Plan (AMRP) for service categories provided under a fee-for-service arrangement. The AMRP is available for review at https://medicaid.utah.gov/uamrp-utah-access-monitoring-review-plan.

The public may comment on the review plan during the comment period that began August 12, 2019, and will continue through September 15, 2019. Comments may be submitted to the same website at https://medicaid.utah.gov/uamrp-utah-access-monitoring-review-plan.