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News: May 16, News and Announcements

2011
Elizabeth Lukanen Quoted by Managed Care
Headlines
Executive
Elizabeth Lukanen Quoted SHARE Deputy Director Elizabeth Lukanen spoke to Managed
by Managed Care
Healthcare Executive (MHE) recently about the challenges
Executive
issues states are facing as they plan for the health insurance
Welcome Andrea
exchanges required under the Affordable Care Act. In a May
Goodenough
1, 2011, MHE article, “Public programs lent IT experience to
Maine Data Spotlight: upcoming state exchanges,” Ms. Lukanen points to the
Health Care Claims
Database challenge of integrating public enrollment systems with a
system that will serve as a portal not only to public health
Report: How to Boost
Enrollment in Health programs but also to private insurance and premium
Programs under the ACA subsidies. She offers Wisconsin’s exchange prototype as one

MACPAC Submits Report example of how to approach this integration—by building a


to the Congress on web-based interface over the legacy information and data
Medicaid and CHIP
systems--pointing out that "Wisconsin's new exchange
CMS Rule on Provider prototype is a useful example to review, because it was
Payment Proposed
developed after PPACA passed."
California Estimates of
ACA Beneficiaries
Released Welcome Andrea Goodenough
SHADAC is pleased to announce that Andrea Goodenough has
Minnesota: More than
60,000 New Medicaid joined our staff as Office Administrator. She joins SHADAC
Enrollees under Expanded from the Institute for Research in Marketing at the Carlson
Program
School of Management where she was a program
Our highlighted coordinator. Prior to that she was an office manager in
blogs Facilities Management at the University of Minnesota. Andrea
Block Grants for Medicaid:
brings experience managing a busy office and coordinating
What’s the Story?
special projects and initiatives, along with and array of design
When 133 Equals 138:
FPL Calculations in the and communication skills.
Affordable Care Act

Connect with Publications


SHADAC
Maine Data Spotlight: Health Care Claims
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Become a fan Database
Read our blog SHADAC released a new Data Spotlight, "Maine’s Health Care
Forward this email to a
colleague Claims Database," featuring Maine's all-payer claims database
(ACPD). This spotlight describes how Maine's ACPD has been
a useful example for states looking to create their own claims
databases. The State Data Spotlight is a SHADAC series
highlighting states’ unique data tools, datasets, and uses of
existing data systems. The series aims to provide information
and insight on methods that can be applied in other states.

Health Reform Resources


Report: How to Boost Enrollment in Health
Programs under the ACA
A new report from Urban Institute author Stan Dorn offers
advice to federal policy makers as they work to promote
enrollment in health insurance programs created or expanded
by the Affordable Care Act (ACA). In “Implementing National
Health Reform: A Five-Part Strategy for Reaching the Eligible
Uninsured,” the author describes a five-part strategy to
maximize the uninsured into subsidized coverage utilizing a
combination of technology and collaboration.

MACPAC Submits Report to the Congress on


Medicaid and CHIP
The Medicaid and CHIP Payment and Access Commission
(MACPAC) released the March 2011 Report to the Congress
on Medicaid and CHIP. The purpose of this initial report is to
contribute to a better understanding of the Medicaid and CHIP
programs, their roles in the U.S. health care system, and the
key policy and data issues to be addressed.

CMS Rule on Provider Payment Proposed


The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS)
proposed a rule, "Medicaid Program; Methods for Assuring
Access to Covered Medicaid Services." This rule would create
new state reporting requirements for access to care
measurements that would be submitted annually to CMS, but
also prior to submitting a State Plan Amendment to reduce or
alter payment rates.

The rule intends to establish standardized, transparent


processes for states to assure that payments are sufficient to
maintain consistent access to services. The proposed rule
allows states discretion in the types of data collected and
reported, as long as data on all covered services is included at
least once every five years. SHADAC's State Profiles are
listed in this proposed rule as resource for access measures
for each state.

News from the States


California Estimates of ACA Beneficiaries
Released
The UCLA Center for Health Policy Research released two new
policy briefs, showing that the majority of state residents
likely to be eligible for federally mandated health insurance
coverage initiatives in California in 2014 are also those who
may be least likely to excessively use costly health services:
men, singles and those of working age. In "Californians Newly
Eligible for Medi-Cal under Health Care Reform," the authors
estimate that 2.1 million Californians may become eligible for
Medi-Cal, the state's health care program for low-income
Californians, as a result of the Affordable Care Act. "Who Can
Participate in the California Health Benefit Exchange? A
Profile of Subsidy-Eligible Uninsured and Individually Insured"
shows an additional 2.4 million are likely to be eligible for
coverage through the Health Benefit Exchange, a newly
established marketplace for health care plans with subsidies
for lower-income Californians.

Minnesota: More than 60,000 New Medicaid


Enrollees under Expanded Program
Speaking to PoliticoPro, Minnesota Assistant Commissioner of
Health Administration Scott Leitz reports that the state has
enrolled about two-thirds of the 95,000 individuals that were
projected to be covered by Minnesota's early Medicaid
expansion. While the majority of the new enrollees have
shifted over from two state-funded programs, MinnesotaCare
and General Assistance Medical Care (GAMC), approximately
5,000 of the enrollees are new to state coverage altogether.
Minnesota expanded Medicaid under the authority of the
Affordable Care Act just over two months ago. The
PoliticoPro article is available at this link (subscription
required).

Visit SHADAC's blog for regular


updates and commentary

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SHADAC is funded by The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to help states monitor rates of health
insurance coverage and to understand factors associated with uninsurance. Visit us online at
www.shadac.org

SHARE is a National Program funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to fund, synthesize and
disseminate evaluations of state health reform. SHARE operates out of SHADAC. For more information,
visit SHARE's web site, www.statereformevaluation.org.

Copyright (C) 2011 State Health Access Data Assistance Center (SHADAC) All rights reserved.

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