Medicaid

Many adults enrolled in Medicaid lack adequate dental care coverage. Oregon uses Medicaid coordinated care organizations to offer integrated physical, mental health, and now oral care. A new NASHP report, supported by the DentaQuest Foundation, examines Oregon’s innovative payment and financing structures, incentive measures, and key partnerships that were important to building this model. This report is helpful for policymakers considering integrating dental in Medicaid reform.

The Partnership for Healthy Outcomes, a project of the Center for Health Care Strategies, Nonprofit Finance Fund, and the Alliance for Strong Families and Communities, has published a report that captures and analyzes lessons from health care organizations and community-based organizations (CBOs) that are partnering to address both the clinical and the social determinants of health. This report is based on a survey of more than 200 health care related partnerships.

The National Association of State Budget Officers has a semi-annual report, with data gathered from all 50 state budget offices, that provides a narrative analysis of the fiscal condition of the states and data summaries of state general fund revenues, expenditures, and balances. The spring edition of the survey of the states details governors' proposed budgets.

Meals on Wheels of America released a new report, funded by the AARP and Caesars Foundations, titled Hunger in Older Adults: Challenges and Opportunities for the Aging Network. This first-of-its-kind resource explores a variety of available food assistance programs that can be used in combination to more effectively address the needs of seniors in your community.

The Center for Health Care Strategies, with funding from DentaQuest Foundation, published a technical assistance brief that provides a framework to improve social determinants that affect oral health in the community.

This is the annual report that records the accomplishments made for Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) in 2016.

This new brief, made possible by The Commonwealth Fund and The SCAN Foundation, highlights insights from states that are fine-tuning their integrated care programs. Formal evaluations of some integrated care programs are underway; however, until these results become available, the refinements made by states described in the brief -- all participants in the Implementing New Systems of Integration for Dually Eligible Enrollees (INSIDE) project.

Kaiser Family Foundation and Health Management Associates released a report about implementing coverage and payment initiatives in Medicaid. The data for this report was collected from the 16th annual budget survey completed by the Medicaid directors and Medicaid staff in all fifty states and the District of Columbia. Included in the report is information on the policy changes to the Medicaid programs in each state that were implemented in FY 2016 or planned for implementation in FY 2017.

Kaiser Family Foundation released a new issue brief titled, "Medicaid Enrollment & Spending Growth: FY 2016 & 2017." The implementation of Medicaid Expansion in the Affordable Care Act influenced the growth of Medicaid spending. The brief explores these trends using survey data provided by the Medicaid directors in all fifty states and the District of Columbia.

The National Governors Association (NGA) Center for Best Practices Health Division released a new guide, “The Future of Medicaid Transformation: A Practical Guide for States.” The guide provides a framework for how states can design statewide Medicaid transformation proposals, and is based on the NGA policy academy attended by three states that initially pursued Section 1115 waivers (Alabama, Nevada, and Washington).