This week, our In Focus section provides a recap of the third annual HMA Conference, The Rapidly Changing World of Medicaid: Opportunities and Pitfalls for Payers, Providers and States, held this Monday, October 1, and Tuesday, October 2, in Chicago, Illinois. More than 450 leading executives representing managed care organizations, providers, state and federal government, community-based organizations, and other stakeholders in the health care field gathered to address the opportunities and challenges facing health plans, states, and providers as they strive to provide the best possible care to Medicaid beneficiaries and other vulnerable populations at a time of significant uncertainty and change. Conference participants heard from keynote speakers, engaged in panel discussions and connected during informal networking opportunities. Below is a summary of highlights from this year’s conference.
Investment Services
Dual Eligible Financial Alignment Demonstration Enrollment Update
This week, our In Focus section reviews publicly available data on enrollment in capitated financial and administrative alignment demonstrations (“Duals Demonstrations”) for beneficiaries dually eligible for Medicare and Medicaid (duals) in nine states: California, Illinois, Massachusetts, Michigan, New York, Ohio, Rhode Island, South Carolina, and Texas. Each of these states has begun either voluntary or passive enrollment of duals into fully integrated plans providing both Medicaid and Medicare benefits (“Medicare-Medicaid Plans,” or “MMPs”) under three-way contracts between the state, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), and the MMP. As of August 2018, nearly 369,000 duals were enrolled in an MMP. Enrollment dropped by 6.7 percent from August of the previous year after Virginia’s dual demonstration ended in December.
Registration Open for HMA Conference on the Rapidly Changing World of Medicaid
HMA Conference on the Rapidly Changing World of Medicaid to Feature Insights from 30-Plus Speakers, Including Health Plan CEOs, State Medicaid Directors, Providers
Pre-Conference Workshop: Sept. 30
Conference: Oct. 1-2
Location: The Palmer House, Chicago
Health Management Associates is proud to announce its third annual conference on trends in publicly sponsored health care: The Rapidly Changing World of Medicaid: Opportunities and Pitfalls for Payers, Providers and States.
SNP Provisions of the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018
This week’s In Focus section reviews the recent Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 (the Act), which adopts policies aimed at improving care for Medicare beneficiaries with chronic conditions, including individuals dually enrolled in Medicare and Medicaid (dual eligible individuals). The Act provides new authority to the Federal Coordinated Health Care Office (Medicare-Medicaid Coordination Office or MMCO), which serves dual eligible individuals, and will help accelerate its goals of providing full access to seamless, high quality health care and a system that is as cost-effective as possible.[i] The Act also includes several provisions that have an impact on Medicare Advantage (MA) Dual Eligible Special Needs Plans (D-SNPs). These provisions and their implications for D-SNPs and Medicare-Medicaid integration strategies follow.
Kentucky Becomes First State to Enact Community Engagement & Employment Requirements for Medicaid Members
This article was written by Senior Consultants Amanda Schipp and Lora Saunders of HMA Medicaid Market Solutions (HMA MMS). HMA MMS helped the Commonwealth of Kentucky secure a groundbreaking Medicaid Section 1115 Waiver. Below is a summary of what the waiver entails.
On January 12, 2018, Kentucky’s section 1115 Medicaid Demonstration Waiver was approved by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). The demonstration includes two significant components: an expansion of substance use disorder (SUD) services, including a waiver of the Institution for Mental Disease (IMD) exclusion, and the creation of a new Medicaid program for able-bodied adults, known as Kentucky HEALTH (Helping to Engage and Achieve Long Term Health). The demonstration contains several groundbreaking policies never previously approved by CMS, most notably, a requirement for non-exempt Medicaid enrollees to work or participate in approved work-related activities, such as education, training, or volunteering as a condition of Medicaid eligibility. This approval paves the way for the nine other states that also have pending waivers requesting similar work requirements.[1]
Register Now: 30-plus Speakers Slated for HMA Conference
The Future of Medicaid is Here: Implications for Payers, Providers and States is a two-day event organized by Health Management Associates (HMA). Confirmed speakers include industry executives from Medicaid plans across the nation as well as Medicaid directors from California, Florida, Kansas, Hawaii, Michigan, Tennessee, Texas, and Washington.
HMA Conference to Feature Insights from Health Plan CEOs, State Medicaid Directors
Dates: September 11-12, 2017
Location: Renaissance Chicago Downtown Hotel
Waivers, block grants and per capita caps, member premiums and copays, health savings accounts, expansion, and new benefit design and funding models will take center stage as 35 speakers from leading health plans, states and providers join Health Management Associates for the high-level, two-day conference The Future of Medicaid is Here: Implications for Payers, Providers and States.
HMA’s Raney, Lasky Edit Book that Serves as Guide for Implementing Integrated Care
Integrated Care: A Guide for Effective Implementation is co-edited by HMA’s Lori Raney, MD and Gina Lasky, PhD, MAPL and Collaborative Care Consulting’s Clare Scott, LCSW. The book provides a detailed, thoughtful, and experience-based guide to effective implementation of integrated behavioral healthcare. Using evidence and on the ground experience, the authors share practical and actionable advice for a complex model of care.
Early Bird Registration Now Open for HMA’s 2017 Conference on the Future of Medicaid
Health Management Associates is pleased to announce that Early Bird Registration is now open for our second conference on Trends in Publicly Sponsored Healthcare, September 11-12, at the Renaissance Chicago Downtown Hotel. The theme of this year’s event is The Future of Medicaid is Here: Implications for Payers, Providers and States.
Featured speakers already include some of the nation’s most innovative healthcare leaders. Visit the conference website to receive the Early Bird rate and stay up to date on the latest conference news: https://2017futureofmedicaid.healthmanagement.com/.
HMA Completes Acquisition of SVC
SVC, founded by CMS Administrator Seema Verma, is now part of Health Management Associates (HMA). The acquisition, announced March 13 by HMA founder Jay Rosen, was finalized late Friday, March 31. SVC now becomes HMA Medicaid Market Solutions (HMA MMS), a subsidiary of HMA.