Medicaid Best Buys: Improving Care Management for High-Need, High-Cost Beneficiaries


 

Publication Date: March 2008

Publisher: Center for Health Care Strategies, Inc.

Author(s):

Research Area: Health

Keywords: Chronic health issues; Medicaid; Care management

Type: Brief

Coverage: United States

Abstract:

Medicaid directors are continually faced with difficult decisions regarding how best to spend limited public dollars. Improving care for the program's most chronically ill and costliest beneficiaries may be one of the most effective, and sustainable, ways for states to both advance the quality of care and bend cost trends in publicly financed care.

One of the five promising reform strategies outlined in CHCS' policy brief, Medicaid Best Buys for 2007, was to improve care management for high-need, high-cost beneficiaries with multiple chronic conditions. This new brief outlines important steps for states to consider in designing comprehensive programs for this complex need population. It also highlights three states that are pioneering new care management approaches.