Statement of ACAP CEO Margaret A. Murray on Medicaid Managed Care, Access Regulations

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: April 27. 2023

FOR MORE INFORMATION: Sara Matthews, SMatthews@MessagePartnersPR.com, (281) 650-2961

STATEMENT OF ACAP CEO MARGARET A. MURRAY ON MEDICAID MANAGED CARE, ACCESS REGULATIONS

WASHINGTON—Margaret A. Murray, CEO of the Association for Community Affiliated Plans (ACAP), issued the following statement after the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released updated regulations governing Medicaid managed care and Medicaid access:

“Given that so much has changed in the health care space since the Medicaid managed care and access rules were last substantially overhauled, we’re looking forward to a careful review of both regulations.

“At first glance, we’re pleased that CMS has taken steps toward developing a national quality rating system for Medicaid managed care plans, which has been a long time coming. We’re also supportive of the concept of aligning quality measurement systems across different lines of business, which will provide health plans, health providers and other entities that report on quality measures a common track to run on and facilitate apples-to-apples comparisons. At the same time, these measures should reflect differences in populations served by different plans.

“We’re also paying close attention to provisions around the way plans and states set rates. The new rate transparency requirements underscore the urgent need for CMS to ensure that rates paid to Medicaid plans are themselves actuarially sound.

“We are also very interested in the provisions around in lieu of services – for instance, allowing health plans to address members’ health-related social needs. This has the potential to move Medicaid further toward paying for health rather than health care. We look forward to considering how this regulation will support plans’ flexibility and creativity in addressing members’ health and social needs.

“With respect to the access rule, we strongly support efforts to measure and assure access to care – these measures do, however, need to take into account the pressures posed by the health care workforce shortages we see around the country.

“We look forward to reviewing these regulations in full and providing a full set of comments.”

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