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While states budget problems are limiting interest in attracting new people to the Medicaid program, that situation will surely change at some point, and then states will be looking for ways to reach out to those eligible for Medicare. A study by Mathematica Policy Research senior health researcher Suzanne Felt-Lisk says one model that states can use to improve outreach to Medicare beneficiaries is the SCHIP program and its intense focus on enrolling all who are eligible for it.
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State purchasers, policy-makers, plan executives, and consumers should not dismiss public sector managed care or assume it has arrived at the end of its cycle. Thats the conclusion of a working paper published by the Lawrenceville, NJ-based Center for Health Care Strategies on what lies ahead for Medicaid behavioral managed care.
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In a ground-breaking analysis, the Institute of Medicine has calculated what the United States loses each year due to poorer health and early deaths among the 41 million uninsured people in the United States.
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Medicaid shortfalls plague Illinois; Medicaid to cut dental benefits for WA adults; Medicaid may force elderly to sell homes; Doctors applaud repeal of Medicaid pay cuts; 1,800 could lose Medicaid benefits; Medicaid coverage for 10,000 in state is back on hold
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Hoping to head off suggestions in some financially pressed states that Medicaid should abandon managed care and return to a fee-for-service payment mechanism, the Washington, DC-based Association for Health Care Affiliated Health Plans is publicizing a study it funded that it says demonstrates managed care does a better job of caring for Medicaid beneficiaries than traditional fee for service does.
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Cost-containment programs targeting high-need, high-cost Medicaid populations now have more information to work with. Researchers from the Hamilton, NJ-based Center for Health Care Strategies analyzed prescription drug use in addition to diagnostic claims in the October 2009 report, "The Faces of Medicaid III: Refining the Portrait of People with Multiple Chronic Conditions." Here are key findings resulting from the addition of pharmacy data to the analysis:
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How effectively does the Medicaid Statistical Infor- mation System (MSIS), the only nationwide Medicaid eligibility and claims information source, detect fraud, waste, and abuse? Not very, according to a new report which found the MSIS failed to capture data elements that can assist in fraud, waste, and abuse detection.
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The American Industrial Hygiene Association (AIHA) has issued a position statement on H1N1 pandemic influenza A that endorses and reiterates the key findings of an Institute of Medicine panel that recommended N95 respirators for health care workers. Key points stressed by AIHA include:
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Over the past 12 months, Ohio Medicaid has seen a 9% increase in enrollment, totaling 168,000 additional individuals on the program. Interestingly, though, 80% of that growth has been in the Healthy Families program, which covers parents, pregnant women, and children at low income levels.
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When Michael P. Starkowski, commissioner of Connecti- cut's Department of Social Services, gave a recent presentation, a woman in a wheelchair approached him during a coffee break. She asked whether he had anything to do with Money Follows the Person (MFP), a Medicaid initiative that helps people transition from institutions to community living.
