Prompted by new federal regulations, at today’s Medicaid
Council meeting
DSS
announced the creation of a Medicaid Medical Care Advisory Committee that
will track quality and access to care in the program. The committee will advise
on an Access Monitoring Plan, due out July 1
st, to ensure that
Medicaid members’ access to care is similar to the general population’s. The
plan will consider provider rates but also enrollee needs, availability of
providers, and utilization trends. The state must compare Medicaid rates to
Medicare and private payers, and must solicit public, member and provider input
to the plan. DSS intends the committee membership to focus on direct consumers
and providers participating in the program. All meetings, data, and analyses
will be public. They will soon be accepting applications for the committee.
In response to requests at last month’s meeting, DSS and
AccessHealthCT
shared
their plans to help 17,688 parents transition off HUSKY this summer. While
they plan extensive outreach to ensure people who are eligible stay on HUSKY
and help those who can afford AccessHealthCT coverage to buy it – there are no
plans to help the large number who will likely become uninsured to protect
their health.
If
parents cut off last year are any indication, over 7,000 working parents
will lose coverage. The last time HUSKY parents were cut off,
it fell to advocates and community groups to inform consumers.
