The role of Medicaid managed long term services and supports during the COVID-19 pandemic
- Collection:
- Health Policy and Services Research
- Series Title(s):
- LTSS choices
- Author(s):
- Nardon, Michael, author Reinhard, Susan C., author
- Contributor(s):
- AARP (Organization), issuing body. Public Policy Institute (AARP (Organization)), issuing body.
- Publication:
- Washington, DC : AARP Public Policy Institute, October 2021
- Language(s):
- English
- Format:
- Text
- Subject(s):
- COVID-19 Long-Term Care -- organization & administration Managed Care Programs -- organization & administration Medicaid -- organization & administration United States
- Genre(s):
- Technical Report
- Abstract:
- For Americans with limited income and savings, the primary way to access long-term services and supports (LTSS) is to enroll in Medicaid, a public program that is run at the state level but combines federal and state funding. Medicaid accounted for 52 percent of all LTSS expenditures in the U.S. in 2018. Historically, state Medicaid programs reimbursed LTSS providers using a fee-for-service model; however, increasingly states are shifting to a different financing and delivery system to manage and provide these services for Medicaid beneficiaries: contracting with Medicaid managed care organizations (MCOs). The growing reliance on MCOs to finance and deliver Medicaid services posed unique challenges and prompted innovative responses as states responded to the COVID-19 pandemic. MCOs providing Medicaid managed LTSS (MLTSS) had to address many care and coordination issues, including the availability and use of telehealth, food distribution, paying family caregivers, data tracking, addressing workforce needs, and backup planning. The COVID pandemic severely tested the ability of states and their MLTSS plans to meet Medicaid program requirements, but the pandemic response also prompted some potential improvements to care. Some approaches and practices that states and their MLTSS plans put into place in both institutional and home- and community-based settings (HCBS) during the pandemic are examples for how MLTSS can enhance care as well as help address future public health emergencies. This Spotlight examines the role played by MCOs delivering MLTSS during the pandemic, shining a light on the efforts to meet the needs of individuals receiving LTSS in nursing homes and in their own homes. As the disproportionate number of COVID-related deaths in nursing homes makes clear, individuals receiving LTSS services are particularly vulnerable to the virus. This Spotlight presents some of the "on-the-ground" experiences of MCOs and other stakeholders as the crisis unfolded. We explore the challenges states and MCOs faced, efforts to meet the needs of recipients of MLTSS, and lessons learned.
- Copyright:
- Reproduced with permission of the copyright holder. Further use of the material is subject to CC BY-NC-ND license. (More information)
- Extent:
- 1 online resource (1 PDF file (14 pages))
- Illustrations:
- Illustrations
- NLM Unique ID:
- 9918317485906676 (See catalog record)
- Permanent Link:
- http://resource.nlm.nih.gov/9918317485906676