All payer claims databases (APCDs) and other multi-payer claims databases are a source of information that, when used effectively, can provide insight into how states’ health care systems are functioning and facilitate data-driven decision-making. This issue brief looks at the progress states and community organizations have made in using their APCDs or other multi-payer claims databases for various strategic purposes, and offers considerations for states that are seeking to optimize their own claims databases to achieve health care system performance improvement goals. It identifies three broad data use categories and provides a high-level description of the approaches taken by select states and one community organization, with attention to practices that may not be as widely used across states, or in areas that states and community organizations are just beginning to pursue.
The State Health Policy Highlight, Achieving Transparency and Value Using Multi-Payer Claims Databases, provides an overview of how states are leveraging their claims databases and reviews the lessons experienced states and community organizations have to offer other states seeking to optimize their own databases.
State Health and Value Strategies, in partnership with the Peterson Center on Healthcare, hosted a webinaron March 27 during which presenters from the state of Vermont and Rhode Island, as well as the Washington Health Alliance, discussed how they are employing claims databases to enhance the value of care and shared lessons learned for those seeking to optimize their own databases
In the absence of federal legislation, states are actively seeking tools to reform their health care systems. While 1115 waivers rightly get a lot of attention, because of their ability to reshape state Medicaid programs, the Affordable Care Act’s Section 1332 waivers continue to be a promising avenue for states to stabilize their health insurance marketplace. SHVS is tracking state activity and has many resources, including a template, for states interested in pursuing a Section 1332 waiver.
On March 27, for the second time, a federal judge vacated the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) approval of Kentucky’s Medicaid 1115 demonstration waiver to test, among other things, a work requirement as a condition of Medicaid eligibility. In a related case of Arkansas’s Medicaid work requirements demonstration, the judge likewise vacated the federal approval, remanding it to CMS for further consideration. Notably, because Arkansas, unlike Kentucky, had already implemented the work requirements, the decision requires the state to cease its work requirement and related Medicaid disenrollments. This expert perspective reviews the court’s decision and its implications for both Kentucky and Arkansas and other states with similar approved or pending waiver requests, as well as for states contemplating imposing work or other “community engagement” requirements on Medicaid beneficiaries.
President Trump issued an executive order on October 12, 2017 to encourage the expansion of association health plans (AHPs) for small businesses and the self-employed. On June 19, 2018 the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) released a final regulation to implement that order. The final rule is similar to a draft version that the administration issued in January 2018. The new AHP policy raises numerous issues affecting state regulators, insurance markets, and the consumers and small businesses who buy coverage.
