Medicaid program; third party liability (TPL) cost-effectiveness waivers--HCFA. Final rule

This final rule revises regulations concerning Medicaid agencies' actions where third party liability (TPL) may exist for expenditures for medical assistance covered under the State plan. It allows the Medicaid agencies to request waivers from certain procedures in our regulations that are not expressly required by the Social Security Act. We will consider waiving nonstatutorily required procedures relating to identifying possible TPL where the agency finds that following a given required procedure is not cost-effective and is duplicative of another State activity. A nonstatutorily required activity is eligible for a waiver if the cost of the required activity exceeds the TPL recoupment and the required activity accomplishes, at the same or at a higher cost, the same objective as another activity that is being performed by the States. This change gives States greater flexibility in managing their Medicaid programs.