As the COVID-19 crisis began to take hold, state-based marketplaces (SBMs) were quick to respond to the first nationwide public health emergency since the Affordable Care Act created new coverage options in states. Informed by conversations with seven SBMs that established an SEP—Colorado, Maryland, Massachusetts, Nevada, New York, Rhode Island and Washington—this expert perspective highlights strategies that successfully drove enrollment, including: leveraging their SBM status to quickly and efficiently operationalize customer service in a new remote environment, directly engaging with existing customers as well as reaching out broadly to new ones, and adapting outreach tactics based on new insights regarding audience needs and behaviors to reach them most effectively.

The COVID-19 pandemic continues to evolve and bring about significant–and rapidly occurring–changes in care delivery. As a result, states are examining their Medicaid managed care incentive arrangements to evaluate the impact of COVID-19 on their health care quality and cost performance requirements. This expert perspective identifies actions federal and state policymakers have taken to address the impact of COVID-19 on their managed care performance incentive programs, and 2020 quality and total cost of care performance. The examples detailed in the expert perspective can be used to inform state decisions on whether and how to modify Medicaid managed care reporting and performance incentives as a result of COVID-19.

Updates from the states as of May 15, 2020.