Medicaid is often thought of as the program for low-income women and children. In researching this topic, I discovered that by 1995 Medicaid covered approximately 10% of Americans. It is true that low-income families make up almost 75% of Medicaid beneficiaries, however they account for only 28% of the spending. Medicaid also serves as health insurance for the elderly, blind and disabled. The elderly and disabled account for approximately 60% of all Medicaid dollars.
Approximately 40% of the Medicaid population, mostly women and children, are now enrolled in managed care. The percentage is increasing as managed care is being mandated for more Medicaid populations. Many special interest groups have concerns and opinions about how managed care will affect the populations that they represent. They include, among others, groups representing the homeless, children with special needs, persons with disabilities, and the Indian Health Service.
Web Sites
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This
site has links to many articles and sites that cover a variety of healthcare
issues including Medicaid managed care.
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Murphy's
Unofficial Medicaid Page: A Resource Guide to Medicaid - America's
Medical Assistance Program is an excellent source of information about
this issue. I would have listed it first because it truly does have a wealth
of information, however as a geocities site it also has an annoying advertisement
that you have to contend with.
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This
is the Center for Health Care Strategies, Inc. home page. It is harder
to navigate through, although it does contain a lot of information. Many
of the documents that this site has links to are for sale.
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This is the Health
Care Financing Administrations Medicaid page. It contains a lot of
technical information. The site lists 120 documents under the listing of
Medicaid managed care in its search wizard.
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The
National Academy for State Health Policy site listed documents that
I did not find in other places including a report on Medicaid Managed Care
and Native Americans, and one on Dental Care in Medicaid Managed Care.
Unfortunately they could not be downloaded, they had to be ordered (read
that - for sale).
**
This is the web site
for the American Academy
of Pediatrics. It is naturally limited in scope to children and children
with special needs.
*
I am not sure whose site
this
is. It has limited information and very limited links.
Documents
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Medicaid
Managed Care: The Challenge of Providing Care to Low-Income Women -
is from the Jocobs Institute of Women's Health (I was not aware of this
organization). This article looks at Medicaid managed care from the perspective
of low-income women, with an emphasis on reproductive health care.
*****
Searching
for the Right Fit: Homelessness and Medicaid Managed Care Care for the
Homeless, NYC in collaboration with the National Health Care for the
Homeless Council. I found this site hard to scroll, but the information
is unique. I had never thought about how homeless people accessed health
care, I guess I assumed that they were taken care of by charity care. This
document had very good information about the special needs of this population.
*****
Medicaid
Managed Care for Persons with Disabilities. This article included background
information about persons with disabilities, what types of options are
being offered, and some of the potential problems of providing services
through a managed care system.
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The
American Academy of Pediatrics Policy Statement on Managed Care and Children
with Special Health Care Needs: A Subject Review (RE9814) from the
Committee on Children with Disabilities. This includes the concerns and
suggestions from the AAP.
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Criteria
for Evaluating Proposed Changes in Medicaid. The American Public Health
Association put together a paper to provide public health advocates with
criteria that can be used during policy debates, very clear and concise.
****
Meeting
the Challenge of Serving People With Disabilities: A Resource Guide for
Assessing the Performance of Managed Care Organizations. This huge
(65 page) document from the Center for Health Outcomes Improvement Research,
Center for Health Policy Research, is a very comprehensive way to measure
care for people with disabilities in a managed care setting.
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A
Guide to Marketing and Enrollment in Managed Care. This document includes
case studies concerning problems with some of the marketing efforts by
Medicaid managed care organizations.
**
New
Directions for Mental Health Services. A very brief overview of the
problems and potential benefits of Medicaid managed care for behavioral
health care services.
**
Arc's
Managed Care & Medicaid Fact Sheet. Just a quick overview of Medicaid
managed care for people with developmental disabilities.
*
H.M.O.'s
Are Cutting Back Coverage of the Poor and Elderly. I am not sure if
this is an actual NY Times article or if the New York Times on the Web
has its own unique articles.
*
A
very brief article, short on facts, big on drama.
| Note: The information below may contain additional relevant materials and documents. Some of the information may be duplicate. The evaluations depend on both the student doing the review and the information contained at the time of the review. Sites are subject to change! |