Expanding health plan variety in state Medicaid programs may not lead to improved Managed Medicaid performance.
Managed Medicaid performance does not increase as state Medicaid programs introduce more health plan variety, but a single health plan with value-based characteristics may be more effective in improving performance, a new JAMA commentary argued.
Andrew Bindman, professor of medicine and epidemiology at the University of California, San Francisco, Philip R. Lee Institute for Health Policy Studies, observed that California’s Medicaid program (Medi-Cal) provides various health plan models as a means to expand appropriate healthcare options for beneficiaries.
However, Bindman explained that Medicaid performance improved when there was less competition within a county and when the public health option was the primary choice for Medicaid beneficiaries. (Read more)