Medicaid

CMS Unveils Medicaid “Scorecard”

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services had introduced a new “Medicaid scorecard” that the agency says it hopes will “…increase public transparency about the programs’ administration and outcomes.” The scorecard, now posted on the Medicaid web site, presents information and data from the federal government, and reported voluntarily by the states, in three areas: state health system performance, state administrative accountability, and federal administrative accountability. The scorecard currently offers information on selected health and program indicators. Visitors can see comparative data between states and also extensive information about individual state Medicaid programs, including eligibility criteria, enrollment, quality performance, and [...]

iqtsupport2018-06-26T06:00:20-04:00June 26, 2018|Medicaid|

ACOs Moving Into Medicaid

Accountable care organizations, one of the centerpieces of recent Medicare efforts to test new ways to deliver care more effectively and at less cost, are finding their way into state Medicaid programs as well. Today, a dozen states employ Medicaid ACOs and another ten are planning to do so. Learn more about Medicaid ACOs, and how one state (Minnesota), in particular, is using them, in this Kaiser Health News report.

iqtsupport2018-06-19T06:00:58-04:00June 19, 2018|Accountable Care Organization, ACO, Medicaid|

Amid Budget Woes, States May Look to Medicaid for Savings

Budget challenges may lead some states to seek changes in their Medicaid programs aimed at saving money. Or so reports Fitch Ratings, the bond rating company. According to Fitch, health care was the biggest driver in rising state spending between 2005 and 2015 and the portion of state spending on health and social services will increase from 30.7 percent in 2015 to 38.3 percent in 2025. Among the measures states will turn to in an effort to manage rising health care costs, according to Fitch, are Medicaid work requirements, reductions in Medicaid retroactive coverage, new Medicaid premiums, and lifetime limits [...]

iqtsupport2018-06-18T06:00:04-04:00June 18, 2018|Medicaid|

CMS Reports on Medicaid Long-Term Care Spending

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has issued a report on FY 2016 spending for Medicaid-covered long-term services and supports. The highlights of the $167 billion in state and federal spending include: Home and community-based services have accounted for almost all Medicaid long-term services and supports growth in recent years. Home and community-based services spending increased 10 percent in FY 2016, greater than the five percent average annual growth from FY 2011 through 2015. Institutional spending remained close to the FY 2010 amount. Institutional service spending decreased two percent in FY 2016 following an average annual increase of [...]

iqtsupport2018-06-08T06:00:16-04:00June 8, 2018|Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Medicaid, Medicaid long-term services and supports|

CMS Introduces Medicaid “Scorecard”

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has unveiled a “scorecard” through which interested parties will be able to monitor outcomes for state Medicaid programs, state CHIP programs, and CMS itself while also comparing the performance of states to one another. The purpose of the scorecard, according to CMS, is “to modernize the Medicaid and CHIP program through greater transparency and accountability for the program’s outcomes.” CMS also explained that The first version of the Scorecard includes measures voluntarily reported by states, as well as federally reported measures in three areas: state health system performance; state administrative accountability; and federal [...]

iqtsupport2018-06-07T06:00:29-04:00June 7, 2018|Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Medicaid|

CMS Rejects Bid to Impose Lifetime Limit on Medicaid Services

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has denied a request from the state of Kansas to impose a lifetime limit on the Medicaid benefits individuals may receive. In a move that the agency appeared to signal last week and that appears to have national implications, CMS administrator Seema Verma explained that We have determined that we will not approve Kansas’ recent request to place a lifetime limit on Medicaid benefits for some beneficiaries…We seek to create a pathway out of poverty, but we also understand that people’s circumstances change, and we must ensure that our programs are sustainable and [...]

iqtsupport2018-05-09T06:00:37-04:00May 9, 2018|Medicaid|

Medicaid is Toughest Insurer for Providers

Medicaid is the hardest insurer for providers when it comes to billing. Or so reports a new study published in the journal Health Affairs. According to this analysis, Medicaid claims take longer to file, are more likely to be rejected, more likely to be challenged, and take longer to be paid than Medicare and private insurance claims. While the biggest problem is Medicaid fee-for-service claims, even Medicaid managed care claims pose more problems than Medicare and private insurance claims. Learn more about the challenges providers face when working with Medicaid in the Health Affairs report “The Complexity Of Billing And [...]

iqtsupport2018-04-05T06:00:27-04:00April 5, 2018|Medicaid|

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|

Medicaid in the Spotlight

State-option work requirements. A cap on federal spending. New flexibility for states to address eligibility, benefits, and provider payments. Rolling back the Affordable Care Act’s eligibility expansion. Medicaid is under the policy microscope in Washington these days in ways it has not been for many years as the new administration continues to work to put its stamp on the federal government’s major program to provide health care to low-income Americans. What are policy-makers considering and what are the potential implications of their efforts? Learn more in the new Health Affairs blog article “Medicaid Program Under Siege,” which can be found [...]

iqtsupport2018-01-24T06:00:13-05:00January 24, 2018|Affordable Care Act, Medicaid|

Medicaid Directors Meet

The National Association of Medicaid Directors held its fall conference recently outside Washington, D.C. This is an important event at which policy-makers and policy experts meet to discuss Medicaid programs, trends, challenges, and opportunities. Many of the materials used during that conference are now publicly available, including video clips from speeches by CMS Administrator Seema Verma and others and presentations on a number of subjects, including: delivering care across rural and frontier America Medicaid’s role in supporting community engagement and economic mobility busting the silos of physical and behavioral health care alternative payment models and addressing the social determinants of [...]

iqtsupport2017-12-21T06:00:09-05:00December 21, 2017|Medicaid|