Section 1115 Waiver Watch: Medicaid Services for Traditional American Indian and Alaska Native Health Care Practices

KFF November 19, 2024
Akash Pillai, Amaya Diana, Latoya Hill, Samantha Artiga, Robin Rudowitz

In October 2024, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) approved the first ever Section 1115 waiver demonstration amendments that would allow Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) coverage of traditional health care practices provided by the Indian Health Service (IHS), Tribal facilities, and urban Indian organizations for American Indian or Alaska Native (AIAN) people. This follows guidance from the Biden administration for federal agencies to include Indigenous knowledge in federal policy and a strategic plan from CMS to support work that would inform states on how to use section 1115 demonstrations to improve access to health care services for AIAN people. AIAN people face persistent disparities in health and health care, and the IHS has historically...

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