Recommendations for States as They Create Medicaid Beneficiary Advisory Councils

The Issue

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services issued a rule in April 2024 requiring states to establish a Medicaid Beneficiary Advisory Council (BAC) by July 2025 to provide states with guidance on the program from people with lived experience. This issue brief offers recommendations for states developing BACs, drawing on insights from people with Medicaid experience (PME) who have served on existing Medicaid committees as well as from nonprofit staff who supported PME in these roles.

Key Findings

• Overall, PME felt participating on Medicaid committees was effective and meaningful when agency staff valued their perspectives and when committee input led to improvements in the Medicaid program.  Interviewees stressed the following four recommendations for creating this type of BAC:
   
  • At BAC meetings, PME should have the opportunity to provide feedback on issues raised by the Medicaid agency, bring up issues that they believe the agency should know about, and receive updates on how their previous suggestions have been addressed.
  • Given Medicaid’s complexity, PME need support from state or nonprofit staff to effectively participate in BACs, including offering BAC orientation sessions, sending meeting materials in advance, and for many, having someone to help them prepare for meetings.
  • To make PME feel more comfortable during meetings, it is important that they have relationships with other attendees, have a supportive meeting facilitator, and feel agency staff are listening to what they share.
  • Inclusive administrative practices should be embraced, including setting meeting schedules collaboratively, offering a variety of meeting formats, scheduling meeting breaks, using non-technical language, providing compensation, and having multi-year membership terms.

Conclusion

PME were honored to participate in Medicaid committees and hope that Medicaid leaders will take thoughtful actions to ensure that BACs help improve the Medicaid program.  

About This Study

In the summer of 2024, we conducted interviews with 23 people from 12 states, including 15 PME who serve on Medicaid committees. The remaining eight interviewees are nonprofit staff who lead the committees or support PME serving on committees. 

About State Health and Value Strategies

State Health and Value Strategies (SHVS) assists states in their efforts to transform health and healthcare by providing targeted technical assistance to state officials and agencies. The program is a grantee of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, led by staff at Princeton University’s School of Public and International Affairs. The program connects states with experts and peers to undertake healthcare transformation initiatives. By engaging state officials, the program provides lessons learned, highlights successful strategies, and brings together states with experts in the field. Learn more at www.shvs.org.