While lawmakers should change the law itself, states should take up the slack and push for 'alternatives to the ACA,' Verma argued.
In an op-ed published this week in The Washington Times, the head of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services again called upon states to sidestep the Affordable Care Act by taking advantage of new flexibility from the Trump administration.
CMS Administrator Seema Verma touted the four "waiver concepts" she unveiled last November to give states a rough outline of how they might bypass the Obama-era law, arguing that Congress should change the ACA because it hasn't lived up to its proponents' promises.
"Absent any additional changes to federal law, it's up to the states to chart a new path," Verma wrote in the opinion piece. "Through State Relief and Empowerment Waivers, states now have the opportunity to advance alternatives to the ACA."
Related: Verma Lambastes ACA, Giving States 4 Ways to Sidestep It
The four waiver concepts are based on a revised guidance document CMS released in October to give states greater flexibility under the ACA's Section 1332 waivers. Some have questioned the legality of that revised guidance since it avoided formal notice-and-comment rulemaking.
Christen Linke Young, a fellow with the USC-Brooking Schaeffer Initiative for Health Policy, wrote that the lack of rulemaking means the policy change is likely invalid.
Steven Porter is an associate content manager and Strategy editor for HealthLeaders, a Simplify Compliance brand.