Introduction Medicaid-focused managed care has become progressively imperative to state Medicaid organizations. With healthcare reform and the enactment of the Patient Protection & Affordable Care Act (ACA) in 2010, Medicaid will possibly be the main insurer for increasing coverage to millions of low-income, uninsured Americans. Medicaid, a government funded health insurance plan overseen by the state, has supplied coverage for people with disabilities, children, pregnant women, seniors, and the indigent. Managed care plans have aimed to contract with healthcare providers and provide coverage at reduced costs (Smith & Coustasse, 2014). The ACA has helped people become eligible for Medicaid who otherwise would not be able to afford health insurance. There will be more equality between genders, before ACA, the majority of beneficiaries were female. Even though ACA has helped more people become eligible for Medicaid, there are also challenges that have risen due to this as well. The focus of this paper is on the challenges regarding Medicaid managed care and how they can be resolved. The first area discussed will be the history behind Medicaid. Then move on to the challenges of the Medicaid Managed Care Program and how they can be resolved as well as the possible solutions.
Background of Medicaid Managed Care Medicaid was signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson on July 30, 1965 (History, 2015). Medicaid covers people who are low income, pregnant, disabled, and
Medicaid is a social health care program that covers nearly 60 million Americans, including children, pregnant women, seniors, parents and individuals suffering with disabilities. Medicaid is the biggest source of funding for health related services and medical needs for the people with low income in the United States. This program is funded jointly by the state and federal level governments, but it is the state’s responsibility to manage this program. The Medicaid program is not a required program that states have to use, but all 50 states have implemented this program. With the introduction of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), and its passing in 2010, the ACA unveiled its plans to expand Medicaid eligibility to nearly all low-income adults as an addition to the other groups that fall into the Medicaid eligibility. The Medicaid program had “many gaps in coverage for adults” because it was only restricted to the low income individuals and other people with needs in their own specific category. In the past, the majority of the states who had adults that did not have children dependent on those parents were not eligible for Medicaid. These low income adults without dependent children would be without medical insurance assistance before the ACA was introduced. Medicaid is now available to all Americans under the age of 65 whose family income is at or below the federal poverty guideline of “133 percent or $14,484 for an individual and $29,726 for a family of four in 2011” (NSCL).
The potential opportunity for the state to opt into the Medicaid expansion is the fact that low-income citizens will be insured. The decision of the state to opt into the Medicaid expansion will also impact the state’s budget, and this is the main challenge (Frakt, 2013). The government will cover majority of all the cost even as Medicaid expansion provides coverage for the low-income uninsured citizens. Expansion of the Medicaid is also a broken system that has poor outcomes, not severe federal strings, high inflation and no incentive for the personal responsibility of the citizens who
Medicaid has help many qualified Americans who were historically unable to access health care. At the same time, it has raised questions and controversies as how efficient is the plan overall. Various research studies were conducted and contradicting results were presented. According to Paradise and Garfield (2013), some said that having no coverage at all is better that having a Medicaid coverage. On the other hand, some expressed that Medicaid paved a way to improved health due to increased access to services that provides prevention of diseases, health maintenance, and effective treatment (Paradise & Garfield, 2013). As for me I am in favor of the later, health care access for all. It comes down to equitable distribution of resources
The Affordable Care Act promotes Medicaid expansion. Medicaid expansion is needed in North Carolina to insure the disabled and those that live below the poverty level receive adequate healthcare coverage. The resistance of North Carolina legislature in the promotion of Medicaid reform has retarded Medicaid expansion to its uninsured residents. The cooperation of the North Carolina legislature and its support of the Affordable Care Act is necessary for successful Medicaid reform. This paper reviews the impact of the Affordable Care Act 's lack of implementation in North Carolina.
Throughout the early 1980’s and 1990’s the Federal Medicaid program was challenged by rapidly rising Medicaid program costs and an increasing number of uninsured population. One of the primary reasons for the overall increase in healthcare costs is the
At last, the law gave new alternatives and motivating forces to help states rebalance their Medicaid long haul mind programs for group based administrations and backings as opposed to institutional care. All in all, these arrangements have quickened Medicaid advancement effectively in progress in numerous states. Also improved with the ACA besides Medicaid, is Medicare. The Affordable Care Act incorporates a progression of Medicare changes that will create billions of dollars in reserve funds for Medicare and fortify the care Medicare recipients get. The new law secures ensured benefits for all Medicare recipients, and gives new advantages and administrations to seniors on Medicare that will help keep seniors solid. The law likewise incorporates arrangements that will enhance the nature of care, create and advance new models of care conveyance, suitably value administrations, modernize our wellbeing framework, and battle waste, extortion, and mishandle. A big topic that is affected from ACA is businesses. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act -- otherwise known as Obamacare -- is putting such a small dent in the profits of U.S. companies that many refer to its impact as 'not material' or 'not significant. Even after a provision went into effect this year requiring companies with 50 or more full-time workers to provide coverage, and after more workers are choosing to enroll in existing company coverage because of another requirement that all Americans get
Medicaid is defined as being a jointly funded state-federal health care program administered in Texas by the Health and Human Services Commission. Medicaid was established in 1967 and also stemmed from Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act P.L. 111-148 (Strategic Decision Support Team, 2010). Some of the goals and objectives within Medicaid are to make it less of a struggle for clients to get care, protects against out-of-pocket through the roof cost, and also to achieve cost savings for the state and federal government through the many improvements in coordination, as well as care (Eighty-First Texas Legislature, 1967).
As a health policy analyst for the state of Texas which has not elected to expand Medicaid as part of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and now has been notified that the state leaders have taking into reconsideration their recent decision during an upcoming session in order that we begin gathering data on the benefits of adapting the Medicaid expansion. As a health policy analyst our goal is to assure data quality, interpret data, and discover new information in the data. Medicaid is a federal and state partnership with shared authority that is a health insurance program for low-income individuals, children, their parents, the people with disabilities and the elderly. Nationally Medicaid covers health care for over 72 million people. Even though participation is optional, all 50 states participate in the Medicaid program. However, Medicaid benefits eligibility varies widely among the states all states must meet federal minimum requirements, but they have options for expanding Medicaid beyond the minimum federal guideline (http://www.ncsl.org/research/health/affordable-care-act-expansion.aspx). In this research we will identify the state of interest which is Texas, compare the state’s decision, determine the alternate approaches to expanding access and provide a recommendation on whether or not the state should opt in to the Medicaid expansion.
In 2010, the President of the United States signed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) into law (Luther & Hart, 2014). As written, the PPACA will be the most extensive change in the financing and provision of healthcare in 50 years (Luther & Hart, 2014). The stated purposes of the legislation are to decrease the number of medically uninsured people as well as decrease the cost of insurance and healthcare for those already insured (Shi & Singh, 2015). Medicaid expansion is significant element of the PPACA and is designed to provide health insurance to the lower income population (Vincent & Reed, 2014). The purpose of this paper
It has been six years since the Affordable Care Act has been implemented into the United States healthcare system. As the pieces and provisions of this monumental federal statute become understood and executed, it is transforming the demand for care. Prior to the ACA, a significant number of Americans were marginalized and unable to obtain coverage. This system was faced increasing healthcare costs, placing greater financial strain to everyday Americans, businesses, and public health insurance systems. The ACA did not only help ensure health coverage for all (almost
The Medicare and Medicaid programs were signed into law on July 30, 1965 by President Lyndon Johnson ("Centers for Medicare," 2012). Before this decision was even taken into consideration, many other healthcare reforms had previously been introduced by earlier presidents, but failed to pass the Senate. Healthcare issues have always been on board for the United States, but during this time the elderly and the poor were desperately screaming for help. The government had no choice but to come up with a solution to their healthcare needs; these two
Medicaid has grown exponentially after healthcare was expanded under the Affordable Care Act. However, this did not guarantee an increase in access to health care services, as many providers do not accept Medicaid beneficiaries, one of many reasons being low reimbursement rates. This discrepancy in rate reimbursement is further underscored when compared to those
With the implementation of the ACA, many states have expanded their Medicaid programs to include a larger population of low income individuals and families that were not able to obtain health insurance prior to the law. Some of the issues that state legislators struggle with are the overall cost of providing services for the additional recipients, staying within budget, determining an adequate approach of offering quality care, and providing adequate coverage for each recipient. Even though the cost of Medicaid expansion within each state has increased the budget for the program, new appraisals has shown that Medicaid programs spend less per enrollee than commercial health insurance and much of the increase in Medicaid expenses originate from the increase in enrollment in the programs (Coughlin, Long, Clemens-Cope, & Resnick, 2013).
Usually Medicaid beneficiaries have one or more additional sources of coverage. Medicaid is a federal and state medical assistance program; and coverage will vary from state to state. The program provides medical care for low-income families; with emphasis on children, pregnant women, elderly, disabled, and parents with dependent children who do not have any other way to pay for healthcare. Third Party Liability (TPL) is the legal obligation of certain individuals, entities, insurers, or programs to pay part or all of expenditures for medical assistance furnished under a Medicaid state plan. Therefore, by law, any and all other available third-party resources must meet their legal obligation to pay claims before Medicaid pays for the care
Medicaid provides medical assistance to citizens in the United States who fall within the eligibility requirements. Medicaid has been enacted since 1965 and has faced many changes. One change most recently was the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, and the attempt to require states to expand Medicaid coverage to include more citizens. However, Medicaid is a states’ right and therefore Congress decided to leave expansion up to each individual state. As some states decide to move forward with expansion and some do not, this paper will discuss the pros and cons to each option and the financial impact that Medicaid expansion has on healthcare entities.