Most Medicaid services are delivered under federal rules that apply uniformly to every state, but states can ask CMS for a "waiver" to run things differently — particularly to provide home and community-based services (HCBS) for people with disabilities or aging adults who would otherwise need nursing home care. Today, those waivers and related state plan amendments are renewed in five-year cycles. This bill would let states extend the renewal periods to ten years for any HCBS waiver extensions, state plan amendments, or beneficiary elections starting after enactment — cutting in half how often states have to go back through the federal renewal process.
Transparency & Accountability
- HCBS waiver review cycle — Extended from 5-year to 10-year renewal periods, reducing federal re-examination frequency
Congressional Summary
Medicaid Empowerment Act of 2025This bill allows state Medicaid programs to renew home- and community-based services waivers (also known as Section 1915(c) waivers) in 10-year periods. Currently, these waivers may be extended in five-year periods; waivers allow state Medicaid programs to cover long-term care services that are provided in home or community settings rather than in institutional settings.
Details
- Congress
- 119th
- Chamber
- House
- Status
- summarized
- Action
- Introduced in House
- Action Date
- 2025-04-29
- Date Added
- 2026-05-16
- Source
- Congress.gov →
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