Medicaid Managed Care Community Forums: Final Report
March 7, 2016
SUMMARY:
In studying the emerging Medicaid issues, the National Council on Disability (NCD) has focused its attention on how changes and proposed changes in delivery systems from planning through implementation are affecting people with disabilities. NCD began articulating its earliest findings and recommendations in 2012 with publication of Analysis and Recommendations for the Implementation of Managed Care in Medicaid and Medicare Programs for People with Disabilities and Guiding Principles: Successfully Enrolling People with Disabilities in Managed Care, followed in 2013 by its report, Medicaid Managed Care for People with Disabilities: Policy and Implementation Considerations for State and Federal Policymakers.
As a direct follow-up to NCD’s 2012 and 2013 Medicaid managed care publications, in fiscal years 2014 and 2015, NCD hosted a series of stakeholder forums to promote greater dialogue and contact between key CMS regional office staff and the disability community regarding managed care waiver applications and dual eligible demonstration proposals. This work was achieved through 10 community forums in which state Medicaid authorities, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), and over 650 people participated. There were seven stakeholder groups comprising consumers/self-advocates, families, other advocates, providers, informal family caregivers, state government agency workers, managed care organizations (MCO), researchers, and various professionals in academia.
NCD conducted the Medicaid managed care forums in 10 states: Kansas, Florida, Illinois, California, New York, Georgia, Louisiana, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Wisconsin.
This report reflects the perspectives of what disability stakeholders, self-advocates, parents, providers, and state Medicaid staff are experiencing at the state and community levels, and includes NCD policy recommendations for HHS / CMS, Congress, and state governments.
