States will be able to pursue new Medicaid block grants under guidance recently sent by federal regulators to state Medicaid directors.

But what does that mean?

In a new article, the Commonwealth Fund examines how the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ Medicaid block grants will work (for states that choose to pursue them; they are not mandatory), the new flexibility block grants will give states, and how the new approach will give states some relief from CMS oversight and delivery system requirements.

Because private safety-net hospitals care for more Medicaid patients than the typical hospital, such a major change in Medicaid policy has a potentially greater impact on them.

Learn more from the Commonwealth Fund article “What Does New Block Grant Guidance Mean for the Medicaid Program?” and by going directly to the source:  the guidance letter CMS sent to state Medicaid directors explaining in detail how Medicaid block grants will work.