Medicaid Experts Recommend Ways to Make the Program More Accessible, Flexible
Task force to make Medicaid work in the 21st century
In 2003 and 2004, a workgroup of 25 experts examined the Medicaid program and made recommendations to improve its efficiency and effectiveness. The National Academy for State Health Policy, the policy arm of the Center for Health Policy Development, convened the workgroup and produced and disseminated the following:
- A final report, Making Medicaid Work For the 21st Century: Improving Health and Long-Term Care Coverage for Low-Income Americans; see the Bibliography).
- Six issue briefs on key topics related to the recommendations contained in the final report; see the Bibliography).
Key Recommendations
- Simplify and expand Medicaid eligibility to acute and primary care and long-term care.
- Increase program flexibility for optional populations (those groups not automatically covered, such as elderly persons not eligible for Supplemental Security Income (SSI)).
- Improve coordination and integration with the Medicare program and private insurances.
- Adjust current financing mechanisms.
- Provide states with tools to manage long-term care and rebalance institutional and home and community-based care systems.
Funding
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) provided $50,000 in partial funding for this unsolicited project from January through October 2004.