Affordable Care Act (ACA)

The Affordable Care Act authorized the Medicaid Health Home State Plan Option, which allows states to design health homes to provide comprehensive care coordination for Medicaid beneficiaries with chronic conditions. States will receive enhanced federal funding to support the rollout of this new integrated model of care. This link directs to the Health Home Resource Center that provides technical assistance services for states as they submit their proposals for these health homes to CMS.

An updated fiscal outlook of state and local governments projects an ever increasing gap between receipts and expenditures through 2060, absent any policy changes. The report found that this decline in the state and local government sectors' operating balance is primarily due to rising health related costs of state and local expenditures on Medicaid and the cost of health care compensation for state and local government employees and retirees.

New guidance establishes a one percentage point increase in the federal medical assistance percentage (FMAP) for certain preventive services. States must cover their standard Medicaid benefit package, all recommended preventative services, administration, adult vaccines, and can not impose cost-sharing on these services in order to claim the one percentage point.

As 2014 approaches, many states are preparing for implementation of the major provisions of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) law, including a new streamlined Medicaid enrollment system and, at states' option, the expansion of Medicaid. It has been found that nearly all states are pressing forward with information technology and process improvements to develop faster, streamlined Medicaid enrollment systems, whether or not the state elects to expand Medicaid coverage under the law.

This brief provides a short summary of Medicaid eligibility and benefits for people with disabilities today and explains how they will be affected by the ACA in light of CMS's new regulations. Provisions of the new Exchange regulations are discussed briefly to the extent that they related to Medicaid eligibility determinations for people with disabilities.

This brief provides a summary of the CMS’s March 23, 2012 final rule to implement the ACA provisions relating to Medicaid eligibility and enrollment coordination. The rule (effective Jan. 1, 2014) lays out procedures for states to implement expansion and streamline and integrate eligibility and enrollment system. Achieving this goal will require substantial process and system changes among state Medicaid agencies and close coordination between Medicaid and other insurance affordability programs.

AARP has many free educational resources on the Affordable Care Act. Available items including printable fact sheets, presentation templates, banner ads and web tools. Fact sheet categories include: The Law and Specific Populations, Provisions of the Law, The Law and Medicare. Tools on the website include a Health Law Guide, Doughnut Hole Calculator, and Drug Savings Tool. Each of the resources provide information in an accessible, easy to read format and target several different populations.

The November 2012 issue of Health Affairs contains nine articles offering early insights on ACO and patient-centered medical home care delivery models. Both of these models have significantly developed in a relatively short period of time. Their goal is to further coordinate care and improve the health of patients. The nine articles examine whether either model will deliver major cost savings, especially in the short term.

The purpose of this literature review is to better understand the various pathways to Medicare-Medicaid eligibility, how and why and individual becomes eligible for both programs. Also, this report presents examples of federal government- and state-sponsored programs and supports aimed at delaying or preventing a descent into functional decline and/or poverty. The ways to simplify the enrollment process for those who quality and need Medicare and Medicaid benefits are discussed as well.

This paper discusses the progress states have made in moving away from institutional care for Long-Term Supports and Services and toward home and community-based programs. It analyzes the opportunities available through the Affordable Care Act and other programs whereby states can continue that progress even in a challenging budget environment.