Question

What is a Section 1115 waivers? Why are states applying for this waiver?

Answer 1

Section 1115 gives the authority to the secretary of health and human services to approve the new research approaches or to demonstrate the new projects to promote the objectives of Medicaid and children's health insurance program. Under this section, the secretary can waive certain laws to provide flexibility for new approaches. Secretary can permit the states to federal funds of Medicaid and CHIP programs to promote the objectives effectively with the new approaches. The facility can be available for strategic research to meet its goals. With the help of the section 1115 states can make several changes in the actions of Medicaid and CHIP.
States can use the facility for specific actions or populations. But there are some factors in the federal system that the secretary does not have the authority to waive for the states, for example, matching payment system, constitution related requirements, etc. the state waivers are approved for maximum five years period and this can be extended in some exceptional cases for extra three years.