Medicaid program; third party liability for medical assistance; FFP rates for skilled professional medical personnel and supporting staff; and sources of state share of financial participation--HCFA. Final regulations.
These final regulations--(1) Broaden the scope of services for which a State must collect from third parties the cost of medical assistance furnished to Medicaid recipients, revise the methods of paying claims involving third party liability, and make conforming changes to incorporate a statutory provision that requires the assignment of medical support rights and other third part payments and cooperation in establishing paternity and obtaining support as a condition of eligibility for Medicaid; (2) Revise and clarify criteria used in determining whether skilled professional medical personnel and directly supporting staff involved in the administration of the Medicaid program qualify for 75 percent Federal matching; and (3) Clarify policy to permit public and private donations to be used as a State's share of financial participation in the entire Medicaid program, instead of only for training expenditures. These amendments are a combination of steps to remove unnecessary requirements in our regulations and to include provisions that will improve the administration of the Medicaid program. They also conform the Medicaid regulations to certain provisions of the Deficit Reduction Act of 1984 (Pub. L. 98-369).