Medicaid Managed Long-Term Services and Supports: Are More Caution and Oversight Needed?

Medicaid can be as much as 25 percent or more of a state’s expenditures — a share that appears to be rising, not shrinking. In 2011 Medicaid accounted for 24 percent of total state spending, including federal grants. To address their budgetary challenges, an increasing number of states are turning to Medicaid managed care. As of 2009, 47 percent of all Medicaid beneficiaries were enrolled in a managed care plan. Looking to save money in categories where the most is being spent, more states are starting to enroll older beneficiaries and those with disabilities in such plans, not just for acute care services, but for long-term services and supports (LTSS).

Consumer advocates are concerned about the level of consumer engagement in this process, as well as the content and quality of the managed care plans. Though there is state oversight of managed LTSS, it differs from state to state.

Who is being served by Medicaid managed care? How is enrollment determined? Does it cover a full range of long-term services and supports including home and community based services? Are these programs providing high quality, efficient care? Is there sufficient state oversight of these programs? How do the different models of state oversight vary from one another? Is Medicaid managed care as a strategy part of state plans for 2014 and the challenges and opportunities presented under the Affordable Care Act?

To address these questions and more, the Alliance for Health Reform and AARP are sponsoring an August 3 luncheon briefing. Speakers will be: James Toews, Administration for Community Living, HHS; Lynda Flowers, AARP Public Policy Institute; Patti Killingsworth, TennCare; and Debra Lipson, Mathematica Policy Research. Susan Reinhard of AARP and Ed Howard of the Alliance will co-moderate.

Transcript

Full Transcript (Adobe Acrobat PDF)

Speaker Presentations

James Toews’ Presentation (Adobe Acrobat PDF)
Lynda Flowers Presentation (Adobe Acrobat PDF)
Patti Killingsworth Presentation (Adobe Acrobat PDF)
Debra Lipson Presentation (Adobe Acrobat PDF)

Event Details

Speaker Biographies (Adobe Acrobat PDF)