The Medicaid Long-Term Services and Supports in Maryland Chart Book, Volume 1, The Autism Waiver is the first in a series that explores service utilization and expenditures for Medicaid-funded long-term services and supports in Maryland. This chart book provides information about Maryland Medicaid participants who received services through the Autism Waiver in fiscal years (FYs) 2012 to 2016.

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Hilltop staff presented at the 2019 AcademyHealth Annual Research Meeting (ARM). Director of Health Reform Studies Laura Spicer, MA, and Senior Policy Analyst Alexis Smirnow, MPH, gave this podium presentation about the potential of implementing Small Business Health Options Program (SHOP) in Maryland at the State Health Policy Interest Group Meeting on June 1.

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This report describes the services The Hilltop Institute provided to the Maryland Department of Health (the Department) under the Master Agreement between Hilltop and the Department. The report covers fiscal year (FY) 2018 (July 1, 2017, through June 30, 2018). Hilltop’s interdisciplinary staff provided a wide range of services, including: Medicaid program development and policy analysis; HealthChoice program support, evaluation, and financial analysis; long-term services and supports program development, policy analysis, and financial analytics; and data management and web-accessible database development.

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This chart book outlines the demographics and service utilization for individuals enrolled in the Maryland Medicaid Dental Program who received services in calendar years 2012 through 2016. Individuals who qualify for dental services include those enrolled in Medicaid fee-for-service or a HealthChoice managed care organization.

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This chart book compares the Medicaid reimbursement rates of Maryland and its surrounding states with Maryland’s Medicare fee schedule. The surrounding states included in this study are Pennsylvania; West Virginia; Virginia; Washington, DC; and Delaware.

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Hilltop staff made several presentations at the 2017 AcademyHealth Annual Research Meeting (ARM) in New Orleans. At the State Health Research and Policy Interest Group Meeting on June 24, Policy Analyst Jamie John, MPH, presented this poster, which provides a picture of diabetes-related service use and costs in HealthChoice, Maryland’s Medicaid managed care program, in calendar years 2013 and 2014.

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Hilltop staff made several presentations at the 2017 AcademyHealth Annual Research Meeting (ARM) in New Orleans. At the State Health Research and Policy Interest Group Meeting on June 24, Senior Policy Analyst Charles Betley, MA, presented this poster. Because Maryland is among the 13 states that only cover emergency dental benefits for adults, this research sought to estimate the cost to Maryland to expand Medicaid dental coverage for adults in order to cover a broader range of services.

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This report presents the findings of an assessment of the impact of diabetes on Maryland’s Medicaid program. The assessment focuses on adults aged 35 to 64 years enrolled in HealthChoice, Maryland’s Medicaid managed care program. The Hilltop Institute at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) conducted this assessment for MedChi, the Maryland State Medical Society, to provide a detailed view of the effects of diabetes diagnoses on the use of health care services and expenditures among adult HealthChoice enrollees.

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HealthChoice—Maryland’s statewide mandatory Medicaid managed care program—was implemented in 1997 under authority of Section 1115 of the Social Security Act. Since the inception of HealthChoice, the Maryland Department of Health has conducted five comprehensive evaluations of the program as part of the 1115 waiver renewals. Between waiver renewals, the Department completes an annual evaluation for HealthChoice stakeholders. This report is the 2014 annual evaluation of the HealthChoice program.

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On March 29, 2016, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a final rule on Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Programs; Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008; the Application of Mental Health Parity Requirements to Coverage Offered by Medicaid Managed Care Organizations (MCOs), the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), and Alternative Benefit Plans (ABPs) (https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2016-03-30/pdf/2016-06876.pdf). This rule provides new requirements for Medicaid and CHIP compliance with the Paul Wellstone and Pete Domenici Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equality Act of 2008 (MHPAEA) and the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Final MHPAEA regulations for group health insurance plans were issued in 2013. Much of this final rule extends the MHPAEA requirements for group health plans to Medicaid MCOs, CHIP, and ABPs, with exceptions and changes as applicable to address the unique aspects of state Medicaid mental health (MH) and substance use disorder (SUD) delivery systems. This document provides a high-level summary of the rule and highlights the changes to the proposed rule.

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