272902 California's Bridge to Reform: A critical look at year 1 of the implementation of Medicaid managed care for people with disabilities

Monday, October 29, 2012 : 9:31 AM - 9:45 AM

June Isaacson Kailes, MSW , Harris Family Center for Disability and Health Policy, Western University of Health Sciences, Playa del Rey, CA
California embarked on a major re-structuring of care for Medicaid seniors and persons with disabilities as a result of new waiver authority available under the Affordable Care Act. Last summer, they initiated a mandatory shift of 380,000 individuals into Medicaid managed care with the goal of improving access to quality health care services and care coordination while also achieving savings. This talk will focus on the first year of implementation and initial experiences regarding consumer involvement, network adequacy, service access, and care coordination. Initial findings from the California Healthcare Foundation and other advocate and provider entities will also be addressed. The goal of the talk will be to reflect on the CA experience with the Medicaid-only disabled beneficiaries for what it suggests in terms of the implementation of integrated financing and care for dually eligible people with disabilities under the pending demonstration.

Learning Areas:
Advocacy for health and health education
Program planning

Learning Objectives:
Identify critical successes and challenges in the year one implementation of CA's new disability-related Medicaid managed care. Describe the implications of those findings for the forthcoming national duals demonstration project.

Keywords: Managed Care, Disability

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I have over 30 years of experience in developing, monitoring, analyzing, and advocating for disability related physical access, community living, and health care coverage concerns. I have been a senior advisor on numerous state and federal disability policy development efforts, including the current CA Medicaid managed care developments for people with disabilities.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

Back to: 3028.1: New frontiers in community living for people with disabilities: National perspectives about the CMS demonstration project for younger Medicaid / Medicare dually eligible beneficiaries