The 16th Annual Kaiser 50-State Medicaid Budget Survey: Slowing Growth and Evolving Policies at a Forum with the National Association of Medicaid Directors
Published:
At 9:30 a.m. ET on Thursday, Oct. 13, the Kaiser Family Foundation’s Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured (KCMU) released Kaiser’s 16th annual 50-state Medicaid budget survey for state fiscal years 2016 and 2017. Kaiser and the National Association of Medicaid Directors (NAMD) held a joint briefing to discuss key findings and highlight trends in enrollment and spending, as well as policy changes in Medicaid programs around the country. The survey provides new information on such topics as: trends in Medicaid enrollment and spending growth several years into the Affordable Care Act; key developments in eligibility and enrollment policies; how states are using managed care to deliver care or enroll more populations; how Medicaid programs are adjusting provider reimbursement rates and managing benefits such as access to costly prescription drugs, and the latest information on Medicaid payment and delivery system reforms.
In conjunction with the briefing, the Foundation released three reports based on the KCMU survey:
- An analysis of national trends in state Medicaid enrollment and spending;
- Four case studies of Medicaid programs in Maryland, Montana, New York and Oklahoma; and
- Implementing Coverage and Payment Initiatives, also based on the survey findings and completed in partnership with NAMD, which provides a detailed look at the various policy and program changes in Medicaid programs in all 50 states.
The briefing was moderated by Diane Rowland, the Foundation’s Executive Vice President and Executive Director of the KCMU. Survey findings will be presented by co-authors Robin Rudowitz, an Associate Director of the KCMU, and Vernon K. Smith, a Senior Fellow at Health Management Associates, which helped conduct the survey.
Offering perspective was a panel of Medicaid directors from three states, including:
- John McCarthy, Vice President of NAMD’s Board of Directors and Director, Ohio Department of Medicaid
- Leesa M. Allen, Executive Medicaid Director, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Department of Public Welfare
- Calder Lynch, Director, Division of Medicaid & Long-Term Care, State of Nebraska, Department of Health and Human Services