(a) Basis. This subpart implements provisions in section 1115(d) of the Act, which requires all of the following:

(1) The establishment of application requirements for Medicaid and CHIP demonstration projects that provide for:

(i) A process for public notice and comment at the State level, including public hearings, sufficient to ensure a meaningful level of public input and that does not impose requirements that are in addition to, or duplicative of, requirements imposed under the Administrative Procedure Act, or requirements that are unreasonable or unnecessarily burdensome with respect to State compliance.

(ii) Requirements relating to all of the following:

(A) The goals of the program to be implemented or renewed under the demonstration project.

(B) Expected State and Federal costs and coverage projections of the State demonstration project.

(C) Specific plans of the State to ensure the demonstration project will be in compliance with titles XIX or XXI of the Act.

(2) A process for public notice and comment after a demonstration application is received by the Secretary that is sufficient to ensure a meaningful level of public input.

(3) A process for the submission of reports to the Secretary by a State relating to the implementation of a demonstration project.

(4) Periodic evaluation of demonstration projects by the Secretary.

(b) Purpose. This subpart sets forth a process for application and review of Medicaid and CHIP demonstration projects that provides for transparency and public participation.

For the purposes of this subpart:

Demonstration means any experimental, pilot, or demonstration project which the Secretary approves under the authority of section 1115 of the Act because, in the judgment of the Secretary, it is likely to assist in promoting the statutory objectives of the Medicaid or CHIP program.

Indian Health Program means a program as defined at section 4(12) of the Indian Health Care Improvement Act, (Pub. L. 94-437).

Public notice means a notice issued by a government agency or legislative body that contains sufficient detail to notify the public at large of a proposed action, consistent with the provisions of § 431.408 of this subpart.

(a) General. A State must provide at least a 30-day public notice and comment period regarding applications for a demonstration project, or an extension of an existing demonstration project that the State intends to submit to CMS for review and consideration.

(1) Public notice and comment period. Prior to submitting an application to CMS for a new demonstration project or an extension of a previously approved demonstration project, the State must provide at least a 30-day public notice and comment period, and the public notice shall include all of the following information:

(i) A comprehensive description of the demonstration application or extension to be submitted to CMS that contains a sufficient level of detail to ensure meaningful input from the public, including:

(A) The program description, goals, and objectives to be implemented or extended under the demonstration project, including a description of the current or new beneficiaries who will be impacted by the demonstration.

(B) To the extent applicable, the proposed health care delivery system and the eligibility requirements, benefit coverage and cost sharing (premiums, co-payments, and deductibles) required of individuals that will be impacted by the demonstration, and how such provisions vary from the State's current program features.

(C) An estimate of the expected increase or decrease in annual enrollment, and in annual aggregate expenditures, including historic enrollment or budgetary data, if applicable. This includes a financial analysis of any changes to the demonstration requested by the State in its extension request.

(D) The hypothesis and evaluation parameters of the demonstration.

(E) The specific waiver and expenditure authorities that the State believes to be necessary to authorize the demonstration.

(ii) The locations and Internet address where copies of the demonstration application are available for public review and comment.

(iii) Postal and Internet email addresses where written comments may be sent and reviewed by the public, and the minimum 30-day time period in which comments will be accepted.

(iv) The location, date, and time of at least two public hearings convened by the State to seek public input on the demonstration application.

(2) Statement of public notice and public input procedures. (i) The State shall publish its public notice process, public input process, planned hearings, the demonstration application(s), and a link to the relevant Medicaid demonstration page(s) on the CMS Web site in a prominent location on either the main page of the public Web site of the State agency responsible for making applications for demonstrations or on a demonstration-specific Web page that is linked in a readily identifiable way to the main page of the State agency's Web site. The State must maintain and keep current the public Web site throughout the entire public comment and review process.

(ii) The State shall also publish an abbreviated public notice which must include a summary description of the demonstration, the location and times of the two or more public hearings, and an active link to the full public notice document on the State's Web site in the State's administrative record in accordance with the State's Administrative Procedure Act, provided that such notice is provided at least 30 days prior to the submission of the demonstration application to CMS or in the newspapers of widest circulation in each city with a population of 100,000, or more, provided that such notice is provided at least 30 days prior to the submission of the demonstration application to CMS, or both.

(iii) The State must also utilize additional mechanisms, such as an electronic mailing list, to notify interested parties of the demonstration application(s).

(3) Public hearings. At least 20 days prior to submitting an application for a new demonstration project or extension of an existing demonstration project to CMS for review, the State must have conducted at least two public hearings, on separate dates and at separate locations, regarding the State's demonstration application at which members of the public throughout the State have an opportunity to provide comments. The State must use telephonic and/or Web conference capabilities for at least one of the two required public hearings to ensure statewide accessibility to the public hearing unless it can document it has afforded the public throughout the State the opportunity to provide comment, such as holding the two public hearings in geographically distinct areas of the State. The State must use at least two of the following public forums:

(i) The Medical Care Advisory Committee that operates in accordance with § 431.12 of this subpart; or

(ii) A commission or other similar process, where meetings are open to members of the public; or

(iii) A State legislative process, which would afford an interested party the opportunity to learn about the contents of the demonstration application, and to comment on its contents; or

(iv) Any other similar process for public input that would afford an interested party the opportunity to learn about the contents of the demonstration application, and to comment on its contents.

(b) Tribal consultation and seeking advice from Indian health providers and urban Indian organizations. A State with Federally-recognized Indian tribes, Indian health programs, and/or urban Indian health organizations shall include a process to consult with the Indian tribes, and seek advice from Indian Health programs and urban Indian health organizations in the State, prior to submission of an application to CMS for a new demonstration project, or an extension of a previously approved demonstration project, that has or would have a direct effect on Indians, tribes, on Indian health programs, or on urban Indian health organizations.

(1) For initial applications and applications extending existing demonstration projects that have a direct effect on Indians, tribes, Indian health programs, and urban Indian health organizations in the State, the State must demonstrate that it has conducted consultation activities with tribes and sought advice from Indian health programs and urban Indian health organizations prior to submission of such application.

(2) Consultation with Federally-recognized Indian tribes and solicitation of advice from affected Indian health providers and urban Indian organizations must be conducted in accordance with the consultation process outlined in the July 17, 2001 letter or the State's formal tribal consultation agreement or process and the process for seeking advice from Indian Health providers must be conducted as outlined in the State's approved Medicaid State Plan.

(3) Documentation of the State's consultation activities must be included in the demonstration application, which must describe the notification process, the entities involved in the consultation(s), the date(s) and location(s) of the consultation(s), issues raised, and the potential resolution for such issues.

(a) Initial demonstration application content. (1) Applications for initial approval of a demonstration will not be considered complete unless they comply with the public notice process set forth in § 431.408(a) of this subpart, and include the following:

(i) A comprehensive program description of the demonstration, including the goals and objectives to be implemented under the demonstration project.

(ii) A description of the proposed health care delivery system, eligibility requirements, benefit coverage and cost sharing (premiums, copayments, and deductibles) required of individuals who will be impacted by the demonstration to the extent such provisions would vary from the State's current program features and the requirements of the Act.

(iii) An estimate of the expected increase or decrease in annual enrollment, and in annual aggregate expenditures, including historic enrollment or budgetary data, if applicable.

(iv) Current enrollment data, if applicable, and enrollment projections expected over the term of the demonstration for each category of beneficiary whose health care coverage is impacted by the demonstration.

(v) Other program features that the demonstration would modify in the State's Medicaid and CHIP programs.

(vi) The specific waiver and expenditure authorities that the State believes to be necessary to authorize the demonstration.

(vii) The research hypotheses that are related to the demonstration's proposed changes, goals, and objectives, a plan for testing the hypotheses in the context of an evaluation, and, if a quantitative evaluation design is feasible, the identification of appropriate evaluation indicators.

(viii) Written documentation of the State's compliance with the public notice requirements set forth in § 431.408 of this subpart, with a report of the issues raised by the public during the comment period, which shall be no less than 30 days, and how the State considered those comments when developing the demonstration application.

(2) CMS may request, or the State may propose application modifications, as well as additional information to aid in the review of the application. If an application modification substantially changes the original demonstration design, CMS may, at its discretion, direct an additional 30-day public comment period.

(3) This section does not preclude a State from submitting to CMS a pre-application concept paper or from conferring with CMS about its intent to seek a demonstration prior to submitting a completed application.

(b) Demonstration application procedures. A State application for approval of a new demonstration project or an extension of an existing demonstration project must be submitted to CMS as both printed and electronic documents. Electronic documents must be submitted in a format that will be accessible to individuals with disabilities.

(1) Consistent with § 431.416(a) of this subpart, within 15 days of receipt of a complete application, CMS will send the State a written notice informing the State of receipt of the submitted application, the date in which the Secretary received the State's demonstration application and the start date of the 30-day Federal public notice process set forth in § 431.416 of this subpart. The written notice—

(i) Is provided for purposes of initiating the Federal-level public comment period and does not preclude a determination that, based on further review, further information is required to supplement or support the application, or that the application cannot be approved because a required element is missing or insufficient.

(ii) Does not prevent a State from modifying its application or submitting any supplementary information it determines necessary to support CMS' review of its application.

(2) Within 15 days of receipt of a demonstration application that CMS determines is incomplete, CMS will send the State a written notice of the elements missing from the application.

(3) CMS will publish on its Web site at regular intervals the status of all State submissions, including information received from the State while the State works with CMS to meet the demonstration application process set forth in this section.

(c) Demonstration extension request. A request to extend an existing demonstration under sections 1115(a), (e), and (f) of the Act will be considered only if it is submitted at least 12 months prior to the expiration date of the demonstration when requesting an extension under section 1115(e) of the Act or 6 months prior to the expiration date of the demonstration when requesting an extension under section 1115(a) or (f) of the Act, unless a longer time frame is specified in the Special Terms and Conditions for the original demonstration. An extension application, including an extension for the purpose of phasing out a demonstration, must be sent from the Governor of the State to the Secretary.

(1) Changes to existing demonstration. If an extension application includes substantial changes to the existing demonstration, CMS may, at its discretion, treat the application as an application for a new demonstration.

(2) Demonstration extension application. An application to extend an existing demonstration will be considered complete, for purposes of initiating the Federal-level public notice period, when the State provides the following:

(i) A historical narrative summary of the demonstration project, which includes the objectives set forth at the time the demonstration was approved, evidence of how these objectives have or have not been met, and the future goals of the program.

(ii) If changes are requested, a narrative of the changes being requested along with the objective of the change and the desired outcomes.

(iii) A list and programmatic description of the waivers and expenditure authorities that are being requested for the extension period, or a statement that the State is requesting the same waiver and expenditure authorities as those approved in the current demonstration.

(iv) Summaries of External Quality Review Organization (EQRO) reports, managed care organization (MCO) and State quality assurance monitoring, and any other documentation of the quality of and access to care provided under the demonstration, such as the CMS Form 416 EPSDT/CHIP report.

(v) Financial data demonstrating the State's historical and projected expenditures for the requested period of the extension, as well as cumulatively over the lifetime of the demonstration. This includes a financial analysis of changes to the demonstration requested by the State.

(vi) An evaluation report of the demonstration, inclusive of evaluation activities and findings to date, plans for evaluation activities during the extension period, and if changes are requested, identification of research hypotheses related to the changes and an evaluation design for addressing the proposed revisions.

(vii) Documentation of the State's compliance with the public notice process set forth in § 431.408 of this subpart, including the post-award public input process described in § 431.420(c) of this subpart, with a report of the issues raised by the public during the comment period and how the State considered the comments when developing the demonstration extension application.

(3) CMS may request, or the State may propose application modifications, as well as additional information to aid in the review of an application to extend a demonstration. If an application modification substantially changes the original demonstration design, CMS may, at its discretion, direct an additional 30-day public comment period.

(4) Upon application from the State, the Secretary may extend existing demonstration projects on a temporary basis for the period during which a successor demonstration is under review, without regard to the date when the application was submitted.

(d) Approvals. Approval of a new demonstration or a demonstration extension will generally be prospective only and Federal Financial Participation (FFP) will not be available for changes to the demonstration that have not been approved by CMS.

(a) General. Within 15 days of receipt of a complete application from the State for a new demonstration project or an extension of a previously approved demonstration project, CMS will:

(1) Send the State a written notice informing the State of receipt of the demonstration application, the date in which the Secretary received the State's demonstration application, the start dates of the 30-day Federal public notice process, and the end date of the 45-day minimum Federal decision-making period.

(2) Publish the written notice acknowledging receipt of the State's completed application on its Web site within the same 15-day timeframe.

(b) Public comment period. Upon notifying a State of a completed application, CMS will solicit public comment regarding such demonstration application for 30 days by doing the following:

(1) Publishing the following on the CMS Web site:

(i) The written notice of CMS receipt of the State's complete demonstration application.

(ii) Demonstration applications, including supporting information submitted by the State as part of the complete application, and associated concept papers, as applicable.

(iii) The proposed effective date of the demonstration.

(iv) Addresses to which inquiries and comments from the public may be directed to CMS by mail or email.

(2) Notifying interested parties through a mechanism, such an electronic mailing list, that CMS will create for this purpose.

(c) Public disclosure. CMS will publish on its Web site, at regular intervals, appropriate information, which may include, but is not limited to the following:

(1) Relevant status update(s);

(2) A listing of the issues raised through the public notice process.

(d) Publishing of comments. (1) CMS will publish written comments electronically through its Web site or an alternative Web site.

(2) CMS will review and consider all comments received by the deadline, but will not provide written responses to public comments. While comments may be submitted after the deadline, CMS cannot assure that these comments will be considered.

(e) Approval of a demonstration application. (1) CMS will not render a final decision on a demonstration application until at least 45 days after notice of receipt of a completed application, to receive and consider public comments.

(2) CMS may expedite this process under the exception to the normal public notice process provisions in § 431.416(g) of this subpart.

(f) Administrative record. (1) CMS will maintain, and publish on its public Web site, an administrative record that may include, but is not limited to the following:

(i) The demonstration application from the State.

(ii) The State's disaster exemption request and CMS' response, if applicable.

(iii) Written public comments sent to the CMS and any CMS responses.

(iv) If an application is approved, the final special terms and conditions, waivers, expenditure authorities, and award letter sent to the State.

(v) If an application is denied, the disapproval letter sent to the State.

(vi) The State acceptance letter, as applicable.

(vii) Specific requirements related to the approved and agreed upon terms and conditions, such as implementation reviews, evaluation design, quarterly progress reports, annual reports, and interim and/or final evaluation reports.

(viii) Notice of the demonstration's suspension or termination, if applicable.

(2) To ensure that the public has access to all documentation related to the demonstration project, including the aforementioned items, we will also provide a link to the State's public Web site.

(g) Exemption from the normal public notice process. (1) CMS may waive, in whole or in part, the Federal and State public notice procedures to expedite a decision on a proposed demonstration or demonstration extension request that addresses a natural disaster, public health emergency, or other sudden emergency threats to human lives.

(2) The Secretary may exempt a State from the normal public notice process or the required time constraints imposed in this section or § 431.408(a) of this subpart when the State demonstrates to CMS the existence of unforeseen circumstances resulting from a natural disaster, public health emergency, or other sudden emergency that directly threatens human lives that warrant an exception to the normal public notice process.

(i) The State is expected to discharge its basic responsibilities in submitting demonstration applications to the Secretary as required in § 431.412 of this subpart.

(ii) Such applications will be posted on the CMS Web site.

(3) A State must establish (or meet) all of the following criteria to obtain such an exemption from the normal public notice process requirements:

(i) The State acted in good faith, and in a diligent, timely, and prudent manner.

(ii) The circumstances constitute an emergency and could not have been reasonably foreseen.

(iii) Delay would undermine or compromise the purpose of the demonstration and be contrary to the interests of beneficiaries.

(4) CMS will publish on its Web site any disaster exemption determinations within 15 days of approval, as well as the revised timeline for public comment or post-award processes, if applicable.

(a) General. (1) Any provision of the Social Security Act that is not expressly waived by CMS in its approval of the demonstration project are not waived, and States may not stop compliance with any of these provisions not expressly waived. Waivers may be limited in scope to the extent necessary to achieve a particular purpose or to the extent of a particular regulatory requirement implementing the statutory provision.

(2) States must comply with the terms and conditions of the agreement between the Secretary and the State to implement a State demonstration project.

(b) Implementation reviews. (1) The terms and conditions will provide that the State will perform periodic reviews of the implementation of the demonstration.

(2) CMS will review documented complaints that a State is failing to comply with requirements specified in the special terms and conditions and implementing waivers of any approved demonstration.

(3) CMS will promptly share with the State complaints that CMS has received and will also provide notification of any applicable monitoring and compliance issues.

(c) Post award. Within 6 months after the implementation date of the demonstration and annually thereafter, the State must hold a public forum—

(1) To solicit comments on the progress of a demonstration project.

(2) At which members of the public have an opportunity to provide comments and in such time as to include a summary of the forum in the quarterly report associated with the quarter in which the forum was held, as well as in its annual report to CMS.

(3) The public forum to solicit feedback on the progress of a demonstration project must occur using one of the following:

(i) A Medical Care Advisory Committee that operates in accordance with § 431.412 of this subpart.

(ii) A commission or other similar process, where meetings are open to members of the public, and would afford an interested party the opportunity to learn about the demonstration's progress.

(iii) The State must publish the date, time, and location of the public forum in a prominent location on the State's public Web site, at least 30 days prior to the date of the planned public forum.

(4) [Reserved]

(d) Terminations and suspensions. (1) The Secretary may suspend or terminate a demonstration in whole or in part, any time before the date of expiration, whenever it determines that the State has materially failed to comply with the terms of the demonstration project.

(2) The Secretary may also withdraw waivers or expenditure authorities based on a finding that the demonstration project is not likely to achieve the statutory purposes.

(3) The terms and conditions for the demonstration will detail any notice and appeal rights for the State for a termination, suspension or withdrawal of waivers or expenditure authorities.

(e) Closeout costs. When a demonstration is terminated, suspended, or if waivers or expenditure authority are withdrawn, Federal funding is limited to normal closeout costs associated with an orderly termination of the demonstration or expenditure authority, including service costs during any approved transition period, and administrative costs of disenrolling participants.

(f) Federal evaluators. (1) The State must fully cooperate with CMS or an independent evaluator selected by CMS to undertake an independent evaluation of any component of the demonstration.

(2) The State must submit all requested data and information to CMS or the independent evaluator.

(a) General. States are permitted and encouraged to use a range of appropriate evaluation strategies (including experimental and other quantitative and qualitative designs) in the application of evaluation techniques with the approval of CMS.

(b) Demonstration evaluations. Demonstration evaluations will include the following:

(1) Quantitative research methods. (i) These methods involve the empirical investigation of the impact of key programmatic features of the demonstration.

(ii) CMS will consider alternative evaluation designs when quantitative designs are technically infeasible or not well suited to the change made by the demonstration.

(2) Approaches that minimize beneficiary impact. The evaluation process must minimize burden on beneficiaries and protect their privacy in terms of implementing and operating the policy approach to be demonstrated while ensuring the impact of the demonstration is measured.

(c) Evaluation design plan. (1) The State will submit and receive CMS approval of a design for an evaluation of the demonstration project and publish this document to the State's public Web site within 30 days of CMS approval.

(2) The draft demonstration evaluation design must include all of the following:

(i) A discussion of the demonstration hypotheses that are being tested including monitoring and reporting on the progress towards the expected outcomes.

(ii) The data that will be utilized and the baseline value for each measure.

(iii) The methods of data collection.

(iv) A description of how the effects of the demonstration will be isolated from those other changes occurring in the State at the same time through the use of comparison or control groups to identify the impact of significant aspects of the demonstration.

(v) A proposed date by which a final report on findings from evaluation activities conducted under the evaluation plan must be submitted to CMS.

(vi) Any other information pertinent to the State's research on the policy operations of the demonstration operations.

(d) Evaluations for demonstration extensions. (1) In the event that the State requests to extend the demonstration beyond the current approval period under the authority of section 1115(a), (e), or (f) of the Act, the State must submit an interim evaluation report as part of the State's request for a subsequent renewal of the demonstration.

(2) State evaluations must be published on the State's public Web site within 30 days of submission to CMS.

(e) Approved evaluation designs. The State must publish the CMS-approved demonstration evaluation design on the State's public Web site within 30 days of CMS approval.

(f) Federal evaluations. The State must comply with all requirements set forth in this subpart.

(g) Federal public notice. CMS will post, or provide a link to the State's public Web site, all evaluation materials, including research and data collection, on its Web site for purposes of sharing findings with the public within 30 days of receipt of materials.

(a) Annual reports. The State must submit an annual report to CMS documenting all of the following:

(1) Any policy or administrative difficulties in the operation of the demonstration.

(2) The status of the health care delivery system under the demonstration with respect to issues and/or complaints identified by beneficiaries.

(3) The impact of the demonstration in providing insurance coverage to beneficiaries and uninsured populations.

(4) Outcomes of care, quality of care, cost of care and access to care for demonstration populations.

(5) The results of beneficiary satisfaction surveys, if conducted during the reporting year, grievances and appeals.

(6) The existence or results of any audits, investigations or lawsuits that impact the demonstration.

(7) The financial performance of the demonstration.

(8) The status of the evaluation and information regarding progress in achieving demonstration evaluation criteria.

(9) Any State legislative developments that may impact the demonstration.

(10) The results/impact of any demonstration programmatic area defined by CMS that is unique to the demonstration design or evaluation hypothesis.

(11) A summary of the annual post-award public forum, including all public comments received regarding the progress of the demonstration project.

(b) Submitting and publishing annual reports. States must submit a draft annual report to CMS no later than 90 days after the end of each demonstration year, or as specified in the demonstration's STCs. The State must publish its draft annual report on its public Web site within 30 days of submission to CMS.

(1) Within 60 days of receipt of comments from CMS, the State must submit to CMS the final annual report for the demonstration year.

(2) The final annual report is to be published on the State's public Web site within 30 days of approval by CMS.