II. Provisions of the Interim Final Rule With Comment Period

Through this IFC, we are adding regulations to Subpart F of part 435 to implement amendments made by section 71119 of the WFTC legislation, that require certain adults who apply for Medicaid or who are enrolled in Medicaid to meet the community engagement requirement. Section 71119(b) of the WFTC legislation made a conforming amendment to section 1902(a)(10)(A)(i)(VIII) of the Act, which describes the eligibility requirements for the adult group. We implement this conforming change by amending § 435.119, which implements Medicaid adult group eligibility, to specify that this eligibility group is subject to the community engagement requirement described at §§ 435.550 through 435.563. Additionally, we establish a basis and scope for the community engagement requirement for applicable individuals at § 435.550, by citing the authority provided by section 1902(xx) of the Act and specifying that these requirements only apply to Medicaid programs operated by one of the 50 States or the District of Columbia (to the extent that a Medicaid program elects to provide coverage to the adult group under the State plan or to certain individuals through certain section 1115 demonstrations, as described in section II.B. of this IFC). Consistent with the definition of State at section 1902(xx)(9)(C) of the Act, the community engagement requirement does not apply to a U.S. territory, regardless of whether it elects to cover the adult group or has a section 1115 demonstration with applicable individuals. We also make additional revisions to certain regulations that are necessary to implement the community engagement requirement outlined in this IFC. These revisions are described in more detail in section II.A. of this. [ 26 ]