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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: October 10, 2024

FOR MORE INFORMATION: Jeff Van Ness, (202) 204-7515, jvanness@communityplans.net

NEW REPORT OUTLINES STRATEGIES FOR IMPROVING MEDICAID COVERAGE AHEAD OF PROGRAM’S 60TH ANNIVERSARY

WASHINGTON—A new report from the Association for Community Affiliated Plans (ACAP) details recommendations to enhance the stability, effectiveness, and responsiveness of Medicaid as the program nears its 60th anniversary.

Since its inception in 1965, Medicaid has expanded to provide essential health care coverage and services to over 82 million Americans. The program is responsible for more than 40 percent of all births and over 60 percent of nursing home residents. Notably, more than 60 percent of adult Medicaid beneficiaries were employed, with 45 percent working for small businesses with fewer than 50 employees as of 2021.

Keeping Medicaid’s Promise: Recommendations for Medicaid at 60 offers strategies to stabilize Medicaid coverage, enhance care delivery, and improve the clarity of performance data.

“Medicaid embodies our commitment as a nation to ensure that individuals with low incomes or significant health needs can access vital health services,” stated ACAP CEO Margaret A. Murray. “As we approach the program’s 60th anniversary, this is a pivotal moment to reflect on the lessons we’ve learned, especially regarding the protections Medicaid offered during the pandemic, and to apply these insights moving forward.”

Among the recommendations ACAP sets forth are:

• Ensure more stable coverage by, among other things, expanding 12-month continuous eligibility to all adults covered by Medicaid and offering multi-year continuous eligibility to children and young people. ACAP also recommends making coverage retroactive to the date of enrollment if someone is disenrolled from Medicaid for less than 90 days, and offering Medicaid coverage for people 30 days before and after their release from incarceration to smooth their transition back into the community.
• Provide better care by supporting and expanding access to services that address health-related social needs (HRSN), such as housing and employment support, and backstopping that access with financial and accounting support through rate-setting guidance and new financing mechanisms.
• Promote better clarity through stronger quality reporting mechanisms; stratification of redetermination data to better assess its impact by race, age, disability, ethnicity, language, and coverage status; and updated standards for collection of demographic data to enhance our understanding of how well Medicaid works and where interventions can be most effectively deployed.

 

“Ultimately, Medicaid is an investment we make in ourselves,” added Murray. “These policy recommendations will help enrollees by offering more stable coverage and allowing them to develop longer-term relationships with their health care providers, broaden the services available to people covered by Medicaid, and offer policymakers and others greater visibility into the program.”

To read Keeping Medicaid’s Promise: Recommendations for Medicaid at 60 in full, visit ACAP’s Web site.

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About ACAP:
ACAP represents 82 health plans, which collectively provide health coverage to more than 30 million people. Safety Net Health Plans serve their members through Medicaid, Medicare, the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), the Marketplace and other publicly sponsored health programs. For more information, visit www.communityplans.net.