The Buying Value Measure Selection Tool: Strategies for Selecting Measures and Developing Aligned Measure Sets
The “Buying Value Measure Selection Tool” was developed to assist state agencies, private purchasers and other stakeholders in creating aligned measure sets, and was first released in 2014. A recent webinar explained this tool and recent updates for state officials and other stakeholders involved in developing and maintaining aligned quality measure sets for health care entities and programs including for health plans, accountable care organizations, and patient-centered medical homes.
Assessment Tool: State Budget Impact of Medicaid Expansion
Medicaid expansion has generated significant savings and new revenues for states, which they have used to finance spending priorities and to offset state Medicaid costs. States that have expanded Medicaid received over $60 billion in federal funds in 2015 and covered approximately 11 million newly eligible people. This tool, developed by Manatt Health, is designed to help states document the impacts of Medicaid expansion on state budgets, including revenue generation and reductions to state general fund spending on Medicaid and other health related programs and services. This tool can be used to demonstrate the impact of expansion as the incoming administration and the new Congress develop proposals to repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA), potentially including the Medicaid expansion.
Examining the Economics of Medicaid Expansion
As evidence of Medicaid expansion’s positive fiscal impact continues to mount across the country, the ability to identify and allocate state general fund dollars “saved” through expansion matters now more than ever. This presentation by Manatt Health reviews the most recent findings on the economic impacts of Medicaid expansion, discusses how state can refine estimates of enrollment, savings, and other expansion impacts, and addresses how states are using information on economic impacts to demonstrate the value of expansion.
Medicaid Expansion: Just the Facts
Since the passage of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), thirty-one states plus the District of Columbia have expanded Medicaid, providing a substantial base of evidence for the impact of Medicaid expansion, from a variety of perspectives. Data available from these states and a growing research base provide key information about the benefits and the strategic value of expansion.
Improving Care for Medicaid Beneficiaries Experiencing Homelessness
Nationwide on a given night in January 2014, more than 578,000 people were homeless, and one third of these people were sleeping on the streets, in cars, or other places not meant for human habitation. Over the course of a year, about 1.42 million people used a shelter or transitional housing program for homeless individuals or families. Homeless people often have significant health and behavioral health needs that can be very difficult to manage without stable housing, and many people who experience homelessness are Medicaid beneficiaries. As purchasers of health care, state Medicaid agencies have critical roles to play in the delivery of more appropriate and cost-effective care for people with complex health and behavioral health care needs who experience homelessness.
Consumer Organization Directory for State Health Insurance Regulators
State action to prevent discriminatory benefit designs has been prompted, in part, by vital input from consumer advocacy organizations. Recognizing the important role that they can occupy in this process, the Georgetown University Health Policy Institute’s Center on Health Insurance Reforms sought to gather a directory of these organizations. Georgetown gathered those organizations willing to be made available to states as resources to insurance regulators in need of assistance with identifying discriminatory benefit designs or for other regulatory tasks that require expertise related to a certain disease group or consumer concern.
Updated: Department of Insurance Consumer Services ACA Toolkit
In order to ensure that Consumer Services Divisions within state insurance regulatory agencies are equipped with the necessary resources to assist consumers experiencing insurance problems, the State Health Reform Assistance Network (State Network) team at the Georgetown University Health Policy Institute has developed a toolkit intended as a guide for consumer service representatives (CSRs).
Updated: ACA Checklists for Departments of Insurance
Stemming from training at insurance departments in various State Network states, Georgetown University Health Policy Institute (Georgetown) has released updated form review checklists. These resources are designed to help insurance regulators effectively implement Affordable Care Act (ACA) provisions, regulations, and other guidance by ensuring that insurance forms submitted by carriers meet all the ACA requirements.
Department of Insurance Consumer Services ACA Toolkit – Marketplace Financial Assistance and Tax Filing Issues, including Form 1095-A
The State Network team at the Georgetown University Health Policy Institute previously developed a toolkit to assist insurance regulators in assuring that Department of Insurance consumer service representatives (CSRs) are well versed in all aspects of insurance basics (for new staff), as well as the changes brought about by the ACA and other recent reforms. The information in this document has recently been added to the consumer services toolkit, and includes updated information on marketplace financial assistance and related tax filing issues, including Form 1095-A.
Advancing Delivery and Payment Reform in Managed Care Provider Networks
This suite of issue briefs is geared toward states interesting in value-based purchasing for health care. Part 1 deals with strategic considerations, Part 2 offers an implementation guide, while Part 3 includes a planning template for state purchasers.