WASHINGTON -- Medicaid managed care provides value to health plans by containing costs, as well as value to beneficiaries through improved access to services.
The foregoing are two major conclusions of a Lewin Group report on how Medicaid managed care programs are affecting health care. The analysis was released by America's Health Insurance Plans (AHIP).
'Since the early 1990s many state Medicaid programs have turned increasingly to managed care to improve the quality of and access to care and to contain costs,' claims AHIP president and chief executive officer Karen Ignagni. 'This report demonstrates how our members [Medicaid managed care providers] are fulfilling these expectations.'
AHIP asserts that, as states continue to address fiscal pressures, health insurance plans will assume a greater role in discovering solutions to such problems because of what the association contends is the ability of its members to provide more affordable, high-quality care than Medicaid's fee-for-service program.
'The report provides tangible evidence that Medicaid managed care is getting results for states and the beneficiaries they serve,' insists Ignagni. 'It also shows that there is a tremendous opportunity for future growth in this important public-private partnership as more states look to Medicaid managed care plans to meet more of their health care needs.'
