States increasingly pursue federal waivers to change how they operate their Medicaid programs, including whom they serve, the benefits they offer, and the delivery systems through which care is provided. Some of these waivers offer the prospect of new and better ways of serving their low-income patients while others pose potential threats to providers. Some offer new financial, programmatic, and service opportunities for hospitals, but maximizing these opportunities demands unusual health policy expertise and a sophisticated ability to navigate highly complex, technical, yet also very political processes.

DeBrunner & Associates helps hospitals with Medicaid waivers in a number of ways: we help them understand what state Medicaid programs are proposing and how it might affect them; we help them convey their support for or opposition to individual waiver applications; and we help them bring their own waiver proposals to their state Medicaid officials and describe the potential such waivers offer for improving access to quality care for their state’s residents.

DeBrunner & Associates also helps hospitals through other critical Medicaid waiver processes: the review of proposed Medicaid state plan amendments; program financing; evaluating the potential impact of proposed changes in Medicaid reimbursement systems; and more.

State Medicaid waivers offer hospitals the prospect of new and better ways to serve their communities, but at the same time, they also pose potential threats to the work hospitals already do for those communities. With our extensive experience working with state Medicaid waivers, DeBrunner & Associates helps hospitals make the most of opportunities that present themselves, create opportunities of their own, and defend themselves against proposed changes that could detract from their ability to serve their communities.