Medicaid Managed LTSS Program
On January 22, 2016, the state of Alaska released a final report outlining recommended Medicaid redesign and expansion strategies for the state, as proposed by three contractors: Agnew::Beck Consulting, LLC, Health Management Associates, and Milliman, Inc. The goals for the redesign are to improve health, optimize access, increase value, and contain costs. As the report notes, Alaska is currently one of only two states in the entire country that does not utilize any form of managed care for its Medicaid beneficiaries. This is set to change if the recommendations are carried out from the report, with Alaska introducing a Primary Care Case Management, or PCCM, initiative. Other major changes would include: A behavioral health access initiative; A data analytics and information technology infrastructure initiative; An emergency care initiative; and Exploring opportunities for accountable care organizations and shared savings models. The report looked at full-risk managed care for Alaska, but decided not to recommend it at this time, largely over concerns around the highly rural and sparsely populated demography of the state; lack of experience in Alaskan providers with alternative payment methods; lack of full-risk managed care in the health care market in Alaska leading to a substantially steeper learning curve; a lack of operational and data infrastructure at DHHS, and; actuarial analyses did not project cost savings. Also of note in the report is that the state is exploring the feasibility of implementing Section 1915(i) Medicaid State Plan Amendment, and 1915(k) Community First Choice Option in the state. (Source: Report 1/22/2016)