Medicaid Bulletin

Session Law 2017-57, Section 11H.13/(a) was amended to appropriate funding to be used to increase the rate for in-home aide services to no more than three dollars and ninety cents ($3.90) paid per 15-minute billing unit provided under the Community Alternatives Program for Disabled Adults (CAP/DA) waiver pursuant to Clinical Coverage Policy 3K-2, effective Jan. 1, 2019.

A renewal application for § 1915 (c) Home and Community-Based Services (HCBS) waiver for the Community Alternatives Program for Disabled Adults (CAP/DA) was submitted to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) on Mar. 1, 2019 for review and approval.

There are only two months left to submit an attestation for Program Year 2018. The NC Medicaid EHR Incentive Payment System (NC-MIPS) will close for Program Year 2018 at midnight on April 30, 2019. After that, no changes can be made. 

The following new or amended clinical coverage policies are available on NC Medicaid’s website:

Effective Jan. 31, 2019, NC Medicaid’s Community Alternatives Program for Children (CAP/C) approves specialized medical equipment and supplies for an adaptive car seat and a vehicular transport vest for participants in CAP/C when all qualifying conditions are met per the CAP/C Clinical Coverage Policy, 3K-1.

NC Medicaid has approved the release of a Request for Proposal (RFP) for an independent assessment entity (IAE) that will streamline access to Medicaid Long-Term Services and Supports (LTSS) effective July 2019. The IAE will provide beneficiaries a much-needed single point of entry for accessing Medicaid LTSS services and streamline the processes between initial contact and service enrollment.

This is a reminder that not all drugs administered by injection or infusion are covered in the Physicians Drug Program (PDP) as a part of the medical benefit. Some of these drugs are only covered in the outpatient pharmacy benefit when requested by prior authorization (PA) and dispensed by a retail or specialty pharmacy.

Effective with date of service Dec. 21, 2018, the North Carolina Medicaid and NC Health Choice programs cover ravulizumab-cwvz injection, for intravenous use (Ultomiris) for use in the Physician Administered Drug Program when billed with HCPCS code J3590 - Unclassified Biologics.

Proposed new or amended North Carolina Medicaid and NC Health Choice clinical coverage policies are posted for comment throughout the month.

Under the MQB Medicare Eligibility Codes, Medicaid pays only for Medicare Part B premiums or premiums, deductibles, and coinsurance for charges covered by Medicare. Routine eye exams, refraction only and visual aids are not covered by Medicare for MQB beneficiaries.  Therefore, MQB beneficiaries are not eligible for Medicaid optical services.