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Medicaid & the Law

Legal, regulatory and strategic advice regarding America's largest health insurance payer, and one of the most complicated and least understood areas of healthcare law.

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Trump Administration Draws a Line in the Sand on Medicaid Waivers
Blog May 07, 2018
If recent history provides us with any guideposts on how the current Administration will review and approve (or not approve) State waiver requests, todays news may come as a bit of a surprise. In the wake of recent approvals of never-before-seen waivers including the imposition of new work requirements in Kentucky, Indiana , and Arkansas today we learned that CMS has said no to lifetime limits on Medicaid benefits in the state of Kansas…
Blogging Live from AHLA: A Review of Recent Trends in Medicaid Waivers
Blog March 21, 2018
Good morning from snowy Baltimore! Myself, along with my colleagues Tom Barker, Sean Ahern, and Erik Schulwolf are excited to be here here at AHLAs Institute on Medicare and Medicaid Payment Issuers. Over the next few days we plan on blogging about our insight, key sessions, and other fun tidbits and developments as we take in all of the great information at this annual gathering of the health bar…
CMS Approves More Medicaid Work Requirements and Even More States Submit Request for the Same
Blog March 09, 2018
We're certain that no one has forgotten about the January CMS policy announced by the current administration that supports states seeking to adopt work and community engagement requirements as part of their Medicaid programs through section 1115 waivers. We certainly have not. We previously covered this topic in-depth following CMS' policy announcement and the approval of Kentucky's 1115 waiver containing a work requirement…
CMS Issues New Guidelines on 1115 Waivers; Signals New Medicaid Objectives
Blog November 07, 2017
On November 6, 2017 the Centers for Medicare Medicaid Services (CMS) issued an information bulletin on changes and improvements to the existing Section 1115 waiver process.[1]  Under Section 1115(a) of the Social Security Act, the Secretary of Health and Human Services is permitted to waive compliance with any of the requirements of section 1902 of the Act (which generally sets forth the requirements for state Medicaid programs in order to receive Federal financial assistance) in order to…
Medicaid Waivers in Conservative States Hold Hints for What is to Come for Drug Manufacturers
Blog December 19, 2016
The nomination of Seema Verma by President-Elect Trump for the position of CMS Administrator sends a clear signal that the Trump Administration considers Medicaid one of its top healthcare reform priorities.  Seema Verma is the the “architect” of the Healthy Indiana Plan 2.0” waiver (HIP 2.0), a consumer-driven Medicaid expansion demonstration…
Whats New in Medicaid Today
Blog January 30, 2015
The Washington Post is out with a short analysis on the Indiana deal with CMS to expand Medicaid in the state using some new methods (HSAs, kick-out penalties.) In a longer, more thoughtful piece the NY Times yesterday took a step back and opined on how what was once supposed to be a relatively simple change (expanding Medicaid to 138% of the federal poverty level) has now become something of a many-headed…

Blog Editors

About Our Blog

Foley Hoag has a unique team of healthcare lawyers and specialists with decades of experience in statutory and regulatory analysis, compliance, government investigations, litigation and corporate transactions. Most of our lawyers and healthcare policy specialists have had a direct hand in shaping virtually every healthcare law and regulation enacted over the past four decades, including:

  • The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010
  • The Medicare Modernization Act of 2003
  • The Food and Drug Administration Modernization Act of 1997
  • The Balanced Budget Act of 1997
  • The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA)
  • Budget reconciliation laws of the 1980s

Medicaid is also, by far, the largest health insurance payer in the United States and has even surpassed Medicare in terms of the number of enrollees. Medicaid is a crucial component in America’s health care system.


Our focus includes:

  • Medicaid coverage and reimbursement issues for innovative pharmaceutical products
  • Legal, regulatory and strategic advice for Medicaid mental health providers and payers
  • Medicaid waivers
  • State coverage of the Medicaid expansion population
  • State-specific Medicaid issues
  • Medicaid financing
  • Medicaid and long-term care

Blog Editors