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(HealthNewsDigest.com) – WASHINGTON, Nov. 12, 2012 — The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) 2011 Medicaid Managed Care Enrollment Report, released on November 8, 2012, showed that the number of Medicaid beneficiaries who were in some form of managed care increased in 2011. Medicaid health plans, in particular, saw a sharp rise in enrollment in 2011 compared to 2010.
According to the report, over 74% of all Medicaid beneficiaries were in some form of managed care in 2011, which includes those receiving comprehensive benefits either through Medicaid health plans or enhanced fee-for-service (Primary Care Case Management or PCCM) and limited benefit plans, up from 71.5% in 2010. For Medicaid health plans, enrollment grew to 29 million, adding more than 2.5 million members in 2011. An increase in general Medicaid enrollment and new managed care programs/expansions in California, Illinois, Mississippi, and Nebraska were the drivers of this growth. These Medicaid health plan enrollees now represent over half of all Medicaid beneficiaries.
“The upward trends in this latest report confirm what we’re seeing on the ground: that states, regardless of whether they’re leaning towards or away from Medicaid expansion, are continuing to look to Medicaid health plans as a way to help alleviate the fiscal pressures they’re facing,” said Thomas L. Johnson, president and CEO of Medicaid Health Plans of America (MHPA). “State governments understand that via the managed care model, health plans ensure access to care, improve quality, and allow for lower, more predictable costs than traditional fee-for-service Medicaid.”
View the full report, which includes state-by-state enrollment in each plan as reported by each state to CMS, at http://www.medicaid.gov/Medicaid-CHIP-Program-Information/By-Topics/Data-and-Systems/Medicaid-Managed-Care/Medicaid-Managed-Care-Enrollment-Report.html.
About MHPA
Medicaid Health Plans of America is the leading national trade association solely focused on representing the universe of Medicaid health plans. Specifically, MHPA works on the behalf of over 100 for-profit and non-profit member health plans that serve over 15 million lives. MHPA provides advocacy, research and organized forums that support the development of policy solutions to enhance the delivery of quality health care to Americans in need.
Web Site: http://www.mhpa.org
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