Today, the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services announced additional flexibilities to expand its efforts to ensure Medicaid and NC Health Choice services can be quickly delivered to those impacted by Hurricane Florence. These new flexibilities will help people in Medicaid receive care without disruption and give health care providers leeway to deliver services with fewer limits.
“We want to do everything we can to help those affected by Hurricane Florence get the care they need,” said DHHS Deputy Secretary for Medicaid Dave Richard. “We are making it easier for people in Medicaid to access care and easier for doctors to provide that care.”
NC Medicaid temporary provisions for those affected by Hurricane Florence address certain eligibility, enrollment, benefits and cost-sharing policies.
To help people in Medicaid more easily access services, DHHS has waived prior authorization service requirements, the three-day stay requirement in skilled nursing facilities, the 25-bed limit for critical access hospitals and, for 30 days, the Pre-Admission Screening and Annual Resident Review. In addition, beneficiaries evacuated outside of North Carolina will be considered “temporarily absent” when residency is defined and used to maintain enrollment in NC Medicaid. DHHS also will extend time limits to request a fair hearing for appeals.
To help providers more easily deliver services, DHHS has waived revalidations for providers located in North Carolina until the state of emergency declaration is lifted and the requirement that health care professionals must be licensed in the state where services are provided. Out-of-state health professionals must be in good standing with their home state’s board and Medicaid office and complete an abbreviated and expedited out-of-state provider enrollment application.
DHHS is also working with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to be granted authority for NC Medicaid to allow providers to deliver services in alternative settings, such as temporary shelters, when their facilities are inaccessible.
Details for the new flexibilities, in addition to those announced last week, are in place through Sept. 28 and will be evaluated weekly. For a list of all Medicaid-related flexibilities and their effective dates, visit www.medicaid.ncdhhs.gov/nc-medicaid-hurricane-florence-response-recovery.
More information is also available at www.ncdhhs.gov/hurricane-florence.