Leveraging Medicaid Managed Care to Address Health-Related Social Needs
On Thursday, November 7, State Health and Value Strategies hosted a webinar highlighting the ways states are addressing enrollees’ health-related social needs (HRSNs) through their Medicaid managed care programs and contracts. During the webinar, experts from Bailit Health showcased recent updates to the SHVS Addressing Health-Related Social Needs Through Medicaid Managed Care toolkit, highlighted state approaches to require and/or incentivize Medicaid plans to address HRSNs, and facilitated a discussion with state Medicaid officials.
State Spotlight: North Carolina’s Comprehensive Medical Debt Relief and Reform Incentive Program
In an innovative, first-of-its kind approach, North Carolina is tackling the issue of medical debt through a comprehensive initiative that pairs immediate relief with long-term reform. By leveraging federal funding through the Medicaid program, hospitals are incentivized to cancel existing medical debt—up to $4 billion for approximately two million low-income North Carolinians—and enact a series of policies to prevent the future accumulation of medical debt. This state spotlight provides an overview of North Carolina’s medical debt relief incentive program, underscores the unique efforts of the state to achieve buy-in from stakeholders, and highlights the opportunity as a model for other states.
Addressing Health-Related Social Needs Through Medicaid Managed Care
States are increasingly leveraging their Medicaid programs to transform healthcare delivery and improve individual and population health with a focus on addressing health-related social needs (HRSN). This toolkit identifies examples of approaches states are taking through their Medicaid managed care programs to address HRSN. States interested in implementing specific strategies to identify and address HRSN can use this toolkit to develop managed care procurements or update and operationalize key contract provisions.
Reaching DACA Recipients: Resources to Support State Outreach and Education to Drive Healthcare Enrollment
Starting November 1, 2024, people who receive Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) status will be eligible to enroll in coverage through health insurance Marketplaces under a new policy issued by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. To inform state strategies to best reach and educate newly eligible DACA recipients about their eligibility, SHVS created a toolkit for reaching the DACA population based on existing research, with outreach strategies and template materials to raise awareness and promote enrollment.
The Expiration of the PTC Enhancements: State-Specific Impacts
On Tuesday, October 29, State Health and Value Strategies hosted a webinar discussing the expiration of the enhanced premium tax credits (PTCs) under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, extended by the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 and currently set to expire at the end of 2025. During the webinar, experts from the Urban Institute presented recent research to estimate the impact of the enhancements and examined key timing considerations for states related to the expiration or possible extension of the enhanced PTCs.
Communicating the BAC and MAC: Template Explainer Slides
Under the Ensuring Access to Medicaid Services final rule, state Medicaid agencies will need to create and support a Beneficiary Advisory Council (BAC) and Medicaid Advisory Committee (MAC) by July 2025, with some requirements phased-in over a longer time period. This template slide deck is designed to support state agencies in communicating internally about the BAC and MAC and provides a high-level summary of the function, objectives, composition, and outcomes of the new advisory groups. States can customize the content of this template deck to reflect their unique contexts and priorities.
Leveraging the Buying Value Resources to Advance Health Equity Measurement
On Tuesday, September 24, State Health and Value Strategies hosted a webinar showcasing how the Buying Value suite of resources can help states, employers, consumer organizations and providers implement quality measures to incentivize high-quality, high-value, equitable healthcare. The webinar highlighted two free, Excel-based tools, the Buying Value Measure Selection Tool and the Buying Value Benchmark Repository.
New CMS Guidance: CAA Requirements for the Provision of Medicaid and CHIP Services to Incarcerated Youth
On Monday, August 19, State Health and Value Strategies hosted a webinar on the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (CMS) recently released State Health Official (SHO) letter providing implementation guidance on the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023 (CAA) requirements that states provide specific services for children and youth eligible for Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program and involved in the juvenile justice system. During the webinar, experts from Manatt Health provided a detailed overview of CMS’ guidance in the SHO letter and discussed key operational and policy considerations for states.
Providing Multi-Year Continuous Enrollment to Medicaid and CHIP Populations: State Toolkit
This state toolkit is intended to support decision-making in states interested in, actively pursuing, or implementing section 1115 demonstrations to provide continuous enrollment (CE) to Medicaid and CHIP populations, with a focus on multi-year CE for young children. The toolkit describes evidence supporting CE policies; considerations for specific populations; estimating multi-year CE costs; and demonstration evaluation and monitoring requirements.
Revisions to the Federal Standards for Race and Ethnicity Data Collection
On Monday, July 15, State Health and Value Strategies hosted a webinar on the revisions to the Office of Management and Budget’s (OMB) Statistical Policy Directive No. 15: Standards for Maintaining, Collecting, and Presenting Federal Data on Race and Ethnicity. During the webinar, experts from the State Health Access Data Assistance Center (SHADAC) and Health Equity Solutions reviewed the new OMB standards for race and ethnicity data collection, described the history of federally-defined race and ethnicity data collection standards, and highlighted the motivations for the revisions. The webinar also featured a discussion of the implications for health equity and provided guidance for implementing the standards in partnership with key stakeholders.