CMS approves MetroHealth Medicaid waiver

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services announced this week that it has approved a proposal from MetroHealth System in Cleveland to start a Medicaid waiver program that will provide care for up to 30,000 uninsured residents of Cuyoga County (Source: “Cleveland's MetroHealth gets OK for Medicaid expansion program for uninsured adults,” Cleveland Plain Dealer, Feb. 5, 2013).

The Care Plus program covers uninsured adults who earn $14,856 or less (133 percent of the federal poverty level) and who are not eligible for regular Medicaid or Medicare. To pay for the Care Plus program, MetroHealth is using $36 million that it gets each year from county taxpayers to qualify for $64 million in federal Medicaid matching funds. No state money is being used for this expansion program.

"We are grateful that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the State of Ohio’s Office of Medical Assistance and our own Cuyahoga County government shared our commitment to reduce the uninsured rate in Cuyahoga County, and to improve the health status and quality of care for thousands of county residents,” said Edward Hills, DDS, Interim President and CEO of MetroHealth.