Today, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) released a readout from a November 1st meeting with New York stakeholders, which discussed the proposed New York Health Equity Reform (NYHER) waiver. The State submitted the NYHER waiver to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) on September 2nd, and it is currently under review.
HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra noted that HHS has recently approved other 1115 waivers similarly focused on integrating social determinants of health (SDOH) interventions into Medicaid programs. The readout notes that HHS is “particularly excited to work with New York Governor Kathy Hochul, policy experts, and stakeholders” on the NYHER proposal, which reflects “key priorities of the Biden-Harris Administration.”
Although a full approval of the NYHER proposal is improbable in the next few days, the release of this readout is an unusual and one-off message. It is likely a positive sign that HHS is considering the proposal favorably and will seek to approve it expeditiously.
The readout is available here.
