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The Alabama Medicaid Agency has notified the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) that it will ask to postpone the start date for the proposed Regional Care Organizations until July 1, 2017. The request is subject to CMS approval.

The action was necessary after a General Fund budget shortfall delayed the planned October 1, 2016, start date specified in the Section 1115 Demonstration approved by CMS in February 2016. The five-year waiver is an essential component of the Agency’s transformation efforts, providing funding and authority to create a managed care system for about two-thirds of its current recipients. The Alabama Legislature recently concluded a special session during which additional funding was approved for Medicaid.

“CMS has closely followed our budget situation and advised us that we had to amend the waiver because we would not be able to implement RCOs on October 1, 2016,” said Alabama Medicaid Commissioner Stephanie Azar. “We now look forward to moving ahead with our plans to implement a new healthcare delivery system for Medicaid.”