CMS awards $8.6 million to states to help stabilize insurance markets

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services today awarded $8.6 million to 30 states and the District of Columbia to provide state insurance regulators with the opportunity to enhance states’ ability to strengthen their health insurance markets through innovative measures. CMS said states can use the funds, which include individual grants ranging from $225,000 to $285,000, to conduct economic analyses and market scans of the state’s health insurance market to improve and expand the number of affordable health care coverage options under new flexibilities offered to states by CMS guidance and regulations. States also can use the funds to examine plan policies, procedures and claims-related data related to access to mental health and substance use disorder treatment services, including opioid treatment services. “We recognize that states are in the best position to assess the needs of their consumers and develop innovative measures to ensure access to affordable health coverage,” said CMS Administrator Seema Verma. The funding is part of $250 million for State Rate Review Grants provided by the Affordable Care Act to improve the process for how states review proposed health insurance rates. The funds announced today are unspent Rate Review Grant funding from prior years. Click here to see how the funding is allocated to each state.