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 2012 annual evaluation of the HealthChoice program.
The incidence of mental health disorders co-occurring with chronic somatic health conditions is gaining attention. This combination can pose significant burdens to health care system resources to provide for complex care needs. Using the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Chronic Condition Data Warehouse, Hilltop explored the prevalence of co-occurring mental health disorders amongst Maryland’s new dual eligible enrollees during 2008 and their subsequent Medicare and Medicaid resource use. This report presents Hilltop’s findings, which establish the scope of the prevalence of mental health conditions among new dual eligible enrollees in Maryland and highlight the need for greater attention and research into this population.
Hilltop Hospital Community Benefit Program Director Gayle D. Nelson, JD, MPH, was part of a panel that presented at an Association of State and Territorial Health Officers (ASTHO) webinar on June 24, 2014, titled Community Health Needs Assessments [CHNAs]: A Tool for Achieving Health Equity. The webinar was attended by state and territorial health officials, their leadership teams, directors of state offices of health equity/minority health and primary care, and partner organizations. Nelson’s presentation discussed how public health agencies can utilize the CHNA/implementation strategy process to promote health equity and identified key steps in the process for advancing this goal.
Hilltop staff made several presentations at the 2014 AcademyHealth Annual Research Meeting (ARM) held June 8 through June 10 in San Diego. Senior Policy Analyst Laura A. Spicer, MA, presented this poster, which summarizes a study to evaluate options for continuity of care provisions to assist beneficiaries who transition between Medicaid and Exchange eligibility.
Hilltop staff made several presentations at the 2014 AcademyHealth Annual Research Meeting (ARM) held June 8 through June 10 in San Diego. Director of Medicaid Policy Studies David A. Idala, MA, delivered this presentation in a session titled What Can We Learn from Patients with High Costs and High Utilization?
Hilltop staff made several presentations at the 2014 AcademyHealth Annual Research Meeting (ARM) held June 8 through June 10 in San Diego. Hilltop Deputy Director Michael A. Nolin, MA, presented this poster at the State Health Policy Interest Group meeting.
Since the enactment of the Affordable Care Act in 2010, there has been consistent federal guidance employing and clarifying its provisions. Hilltop develops regulation summaries to assist state and local policymakers in their implementation of health reform.
On March 10, 2014, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) issued a final rule on Information Reporting of Minimum Essential Coverage. This document provides a high-level summary of this rule and highlights key changes to the regulations since the issue of the proposed rule.
This is the second chart book in a series of two 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 state fiscal years (FYs) 2009 through 2012. Hilltop updates the chart books annually.
Hilltop Policy Analyst Jessica Skopak, JD, PhD, presented a poster at the 22nd Annual Meeting of the Society of Prevention Research, Comprehensive and Coordinated Prevention Systems: Building Partnerships and Transcending Boundaries, held May 27-30, 2014, in Washington, DC. This poster describes Hilltop’s evaluation of the partnership component of the Maryland Asthma Control Program.
This is the ninth issue brief in a series released by Hilltop’s Hospital Community Benefit Program. This brief continues the program’s examination of state-level community benefit oversight by focusing on the ten states that require hospitals to develop implementation strategies.