Medicaid managed care

Hospitals, Others Oppose Easing Medicaid Access Requirements

Hospital groups and other health care interest organizations have expressed strong opposition to a Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services proposal to ease requirements that states ensure adequate access to care for their Medicaid population. Under current federal Medicaid law, states must periodically review their Medicaid provider networks to ensure that Medicaid recipients have adequate access to care. Under a March CMS proposal, that requirement would exempt states from performing such reviews if at least 85 percent of their Medicaid population is enrolled in a managed care plan and similarly exempt them from reviewing the impact on their provider networks [...]

iqtsupport2018-06-01T06:00:07-04:00June 1, 2018|Medicaid, Medicaid managed care, Medicaid regulations|

A Look at Medicaid Managed Care

With 74 million people enrolled in Medicaid managed care plans – roughly 71 percent of the U.S. Medicaid population – the Health Affairs Blog has taken a broad look at Medicaid managed care, addressing the question of how it works, whether it’s working, and what its future may be. The two-part report notes that some Medicaid managed care companies are highly profitable and that this profitability has increased in recent years. It also notes that the manner in which these companies serve their members varies greatly, that their medical loss ratios vary considerably from state to state, and that the [...]

iqtsupport2018-05-08T06:00:00-04:00May 8, 2018|Medicaid, Medicaid managed care|

MACPAC Meets

The Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission, a non-partisan legislative branch agency that advises Congress, the administration, and the states on Medicaid and CHIP issues, met publicly in Washington, D.C. last week. The following is MACPAC’s own summary of its two days of meetings. The April 2018 meeting began with session on social determinants of health. Panelists Jocelyn Guyer of Manatt Health Solutions, Arlene Ash of the University of Massachusetts Medical School, and Kevin Moore of UnitedHealthcare Community & State discussed state approaches to financing social interventions through Medicaid. In its second morning session, the Commission reviewed a draft [...]

iqtsupport2018-04-23T06:00:05-04:00April 23, 2018|MACPAC, Medicaid, Medicaid long-term services and supports, Medicaid managed care, Medicaid regulations|

MACPAC Issues Annual Report, Recommendations to Congress

The Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission has published its annual report and recommendations to Congress. MACPAC’s report addresses three primary areas: Medicaid managed care, telehealth, and Medicaid disproportionate share payments (Medicaid DSH). With 80 percent of Medicaid beneficiaries now enrolled in managed care plans, MACPAC offers three major recommendations for improving Medicaid managed care efforts: permit states to require all of their Medicaid beneficiaries to enroll in a managed care plan extend Medicaid managed care section 1915(b) waivers from two to five years permit states to obtain waivers to waive freedom of choice and selective contracting restrictions MACPAC [...]

iqtsupport2018-03-20T06:00:31-04:00March 20, 2018|Medicaid, Medicaid managed care|

Study Looks at Medicaid and Managed Care

A new Commonwealth Fund study examines how managed care plans have tackled serving new members in Affordable Care Act-authorized Medicaid expansion states. According to the report, these managed care organizations have …focused on identifying and helping high-risk populations and addressing the social determinants of health. MCOs are testing value-based payment strategies that link payment with performance and are increasingly focused on engaging patients in their care. Leaders report common challenges: setting appropriate payment rates; managing members whose needs differ from traditional Medicaid beneficiaries; ensuring access to specialty care; and effectively implementing payment reform and practice transformation. Learn more about how [...]

iqtsupport2018-03-13T06:00:58-04:00March 13, 2018|Affordable Care Act, Medicaid, Medicaid managed care|

MACPAC Meets

The Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission met last week in Washington, D.C. to discuss a variety of Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program issues. MACPAC, the non-partisan legislative branch agency that performs policy and data analysis and makes recommendations to Congress, the administration, and the states, addressed a number of issues during the meeting. Among them it discussed Medicaid managed long-term services and supports (MLTSS) and voted to recommend that states be given the opportunity to seek permission to make Medicaid beneficiary enrollment in managed care plans mandatory through revisions of their state plan amendment rather than by [...]

iqtsupport2018-01-30T06:00:58-05:00January 30, 2018|MACPAC, Medicaid, Medicaid long-term services and supports, Medicaid managed care|

New Rules Facilitate Integration of Physical, Behavioral Care

New federal regulations are facilitating better integration of physical and behavioral health services for the Medicaid population. Two developments, in particular, are advancing this integration: the 2016 Medicare managed care rule and a 2016 rule implementing the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008. Together, these rules encourage providers to perform comprehensive assessments of their patients, increase flexibility for providers in how they use Medicaid payments, and pave the way for improvements in the use of information technology that foster better integration of physical and behavioral medical care. A new issue brief from the Commonwealth Fund presents in [...]

iqtsupport2017-10-31T06:00:27-04:00October 31, 2017|Medicaid managed care, Medicaid regulations|

MACPAC Meets

The Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission met recently in Washington, D.C. Among the issues MACPAC commissioners discussed during their two-day meeting were: delivery system reform incentive payment programs Medicaid enrollment and renewal processes managed care oversight monitoring and evaluating section 11115 demonstration waivers Medicaid coverage of telemedicine services MACPAC advises the administration, Congress, and the states on Medicaid and CHIP issues. It is a non-partisan agency of the legislative branch of government. Go here to find background information on these and other subjects as well as links to the presentations that MACPAC staff made to the commissioners during [...]

iqtsupport2017-09-20T06:00:11-04:00September 20, 2017|MACPAC, Medicaid, Medicaid managed care, Medicaid regulations|

Medicaid Directors Set Goals for First 100 Days

The National Association of Medicaid Directors has published a paper detailing its objectives for its interaction with the Trump administration during that administration’s first 100 days in office. We call upon the new Administration to convene with NAMD’s Board of Medicaid Directors to solidify specific areas for ongoing collaboration to be carried out and reflected throughout our respective agencies. The Administration should make two updates to the process for developing federal Medicaid regulations and guidance. First, build in a step for engaging states during the pre-conceptual phase of work. Second, establish a distinct process whereby state Medicaid leaders can review [...]

iqtsupport2017-01-04T06:00:43-05:00January 4, 2017|Medicaid, Medicaid managed care|