January 2015 Public Meeting

The January meeting previewed MACPAC’s March 2015 Report to Congress on Medicaid and CHIP. The agenda covered analyses of affordability, benefits, and adequacy of coverage that would be available to children now covered by the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), should CHIP funding end, as well as Medicaid’s role in behavioral health; the effect of Medicaid policies for paying Medicare cost sharing; and the Medicaid primary care payment increase.

In addition, Dr. Michael Gluck and Lauren Radomski from AcademyHealth briefed the Commission on a MACPAC-funded series of interviews with stakeholders, on their views of the most pressing needs for Medicaid policy research over the next five years. They were followed by an overview of CHIP stakeholders’ responses to the November 2014 MACPAC request for input on children’s coverage issues post-2015. The meeting concluded with a discussion of policy options for the future of CHIP.

Presentations

1. CHIP Analysis Update and Summary of Sources of Coverage If CHIP Funding Is Exhausted
2. Affordability of Exchange Coverage for Children Now Covered by CHIP
3. Network Adequacy and the Future of CHIP
4. Medicaid’s Role in Behavioral Health: Background and Policy Issues
5. The Effect of Medicaid Coverage of Medicare Cost Sharing on Access to Care
6. An Update on the Medicaid Primary Care Payment Increase
7. The AcademyHealth Listening Project: Improving the Evidence Base for Medicaid Policymaking
8. Summary of Feedback from CHIP Stakeholders
9. Policy Issues and Preliminary Options for the Future of CHIP
10. Comparing CHIP Benefits to Medicaid, Exchange Plans, and Employer-Sponsored Insurance