Assistance in Community Integration Services (ACIS) is a pilot program that is operated under Maryland’s §1115 demonstration waiver for HealthChoice, the state’s Medicaid managed care program launched in 1997. Under this pilot, the state provides a set of home and community-based services (HCBS) to a population that meets certain needs-based health and housing eligibility criteria. This summary report discusses ACIS program goals, eligibility criteria, services, and participating lead entities, followed by the study objectives, research methodology, key findings, and study limitations.
Treatment guidelines recommend regular urine drug testing (UDT) for persons initiating buprenorphine for opioid use disorder (OUD). However, little is known about UDT utilization. This study describes state variation in UDT utilization and examines demographic, health, and health care utilization factors associated with UDT in Medicaid.
Senior Policy Analyst Shamis Mohamoud was part of the Medicaid Outcomes Distributed Research Network (MODRN) team of authors of this article published in Drug and Alcohol Dependence.
In this article in the Health Affairs Forefront series, Hilltop Policy Analyst Morgane Mouslim and Principal Data Scientist Morgan Henderson discuss whether novel and publicly available data generated from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ new rule for transparency in coverage could be used to promote provider gender equity. Read the article online.
This report was prepared for the Maryland Department of Health as part of the second annual round of Hilltop Challenge awards. It highlights key concepts and findings in recent nursing facility quality of care literature and reviews two quality frameworks that inform nursing facility quality of care initiatives in Maryland. Below are highlights from three distinct studies.
Principal Policy Analyst Dolapo Fakeye, PhD, presented this poster at the 2023 AcademyHealth Annual Research Meeting (ARM) held June 24-27, 2023, in Seattle.
In 1997, Maryland implemented HealthChoice—a statewide mandatory Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) managed care program—under authority of a waiver through §1115 of the Social Security Act. The provisions of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) that went into effect in 2014 marked another milestone by extending quality coverage to many more Marylanders with low income. Over 20 years after its launch, HealthChoice covers close to 90% of the state’s Medicaid and Maryland Children’s Health Program (MCHP) populations. Since the inception of HealthChoice, the Maryland Department of Health (MDH) has requested and received seven §1115 waiver renewals.
The Hilltop Institute, on behalf of MDH, evaluates the program annually; this evaluation covers the period from CY 2017 through CY 2021.
Senior Policy Analyst Katherine Holmes, MPS, presented her research in this poster at the 2023 AcademyHealth Annual Research Meeting (ARM) held June 24-27, 2023, in Seattle.
Principal Policy Analyst Dolapo Fakeye, PhD, gave this podium presentation at the 2023 AcademyHealth Annual Research Meeting (ARM) held June 24-27, 2023, in Seattle.
Data Scientist Leigh Goetschius, PhD, presented her research in this poster at the 2023 AcademyHealth Annual Research Meeting (ARM) held June 24-27, 2023, in Seattle. Executive Director Cynthia Woodcock presented this poster.
Federal and state agencies granted temporary regulatory waivers to prevent disruptions in access to medication for opioid use disorder (MOUD) during the COVID-19 pandemic, including expanding access to telehealth for MOUD. To examine changes in MOUD receipt and initiation among Medicaid enrollees during the pandemic, this serial cross-sectional study included Medicaid enrollees aged 18 to 64 years in 10 states from May 2019 through December 2020.
Senior Policy Analyst Shamis Mohamoud co-authored this article published in JAMA Health Forum.