黑料网

Insights

HMA Insights: Your source for healthcare news, ideas and analysis.

HMA Insights 鈥 including our new podcast 鈥 puts the vast depth of HMA鈥檚 expertise at your fingertips, helping you stay informed about the latest healthcare trends and topics. Below, you can easily search based on your topic of interest to find useful information from our podcast, blogs, webinars, case studies, reports and more.

Show All | Podcast | Blogs | Webinars | Weekly Roundup | Videos | Case Studies | Reports | News | Solutions

Filter by topic:

Receive timely expert insights on topics you care about.

Select Topics

81 Results found.

Brief & Report

Opportunities to Enhance HCBS for Older Adults and Individuals Providing Care

Download

Minnesota Department of Human Services partnered with HMA to study Minnesota鈥檚 home- and community-based services (HCBS) trends; changes in its demographics, including the experiences of diverse communities; and successful local and national HCBS models to inform future efforts to improve access to supports for older Minnesotans and their informal caregivers. The report outlines recommendations to help address several of the challenges outlined in the brief, and identified several areas for DHS to consider for future innovations.

HMA has extensive expertise in HCBS and long-term services and supports (LTSS). If you would like to learn more about what HMA can do for your organization, you can contact the report authors Susan McGeehan, Barry J. Jacobs, Chris Dickerson, Aaron Tripp, Erica Reaves, and Anya Yermishkin.

Brief & Report

23rd annual Kaiser Family Foundation state Medicaid budget survey released

Download

The 23rd annual Medicaid Budget Survey conducted by The Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) and 黑料网 (HMA) was released on November 14, 2023 in the report: Amid Unwinding of Pandemic-Era Policies, Medicaid Programs Continue to Focus on Delivery Systems, Benefits, and Reimbursement Rates鈥.

Survey results show that states expect a sharp increase in Medicaid spending that is a direct result of lower federal spending as Covid relief and enhanced matching declines. This budget pressure is compounded by increasing provider rates, workforce recruitment and compensation challenges, increased spending on behavioral health and maternity care, and spending on programs that improve health related social needs. These budget pressures will create a very challenging environment for state policy makers in the coming years.

The report was prepared by Kathleen Gifford, Aimee Lashbrook, Caprice Knapp, Beth Kidder from HMA and Leavitt Partner’s Bill Snyder; and by , , , , from the Kaiser Family Foundation. The survey was conducted in collaboration with the National Association of Medicaid Directors (NAMD).

Brief & Report

Unwinding Medicaid Data: A Real-Time 50-State Assessment as Redeterminations Approach the Midpoint

Download
The Medicaid program is currently undergoing the largest change in enrollment since the program鈥檚 inception in 1965.聽 With millions of individuals transitioning out of the program, a key issue is assessing how redeterminations are going relative to expectations in 鈥渞eal-time.鈥 An assessment is especially relevant since timely and systematic tracking is cumbersome and state approaches vary significantly. In this piece, we review why the current changes to Medicaid are so unprecedented, how enrollment changes compare to expectations at a state level, and what lessons should be learned from this experience to improve coverage for eligible individuals in the future.
Contributions to the report were also made by:
  • – Wakely Consulting Group, an HMA Company
  • – Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
  • Daniel Nemet – Edrington Health Consulting, an HMA Company
Brief & Report

State Policy and Practice Recommendations to Advance Improvements in Children鈥檚 Behavioral Health

Download

黑料网 (HMA) has partnered with the National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors (NASMHPD) Technical Assistance Coalition to produce a series of briefs that characterize the opportunities to improve coordination of services for children.

In this brief, 鈥淪tate Policy and Practice Recommendations to Advance Improvements in Children鈥檚 Behavioral Health,鈥 the HMA team of Caitlin Thomas-Henkel, Uma Ahluwalia, Heidi Arthur and Annalisa Baker, and Devon Schechinger address key issues and highlighted practice recommendations that are designed to bring forth systems change and raise awareness at the state level. This brief provides state policymakers and behavioral health leaders with a vision for coordinating and optimizing services to promote mental health well-being, prevent behavioral health conditions, and ensure access to a coordinated continuum of behavioral healthcare.

Brief & Report

The Role of Specialized Managed Care in Addressing the Intersection of Child Welfare Reform and Behavioral Health Transformation

Download

黑料网 (HMA) has partnered with the National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors (NASMHPD) Technical Assistance Coalition to produce a series of briefs that characterize the opportunities to improve coordination of services for children with behavioral health needs.

The Role of Specialized Manage Care,鈥 written by HMA experts, Heidi Arthur, Angela Bergefurd, Caitlin Thomas-Henkel and Uma Ahluwalia, focuses on addressing the intersection of child welfare reform and health transformation. This issue brief explains how specialized Medicaid managed care plans can ensure better alignment between child welfare and behavioral healthcare services. The role of special needs plans for the delivery of coordinated care is emphasized and the opportunities to leverage specialty managed care plans by states are highlighted.

Brief & Report

Improving Outcomes for Children in Crisis with Evidence-Based Tools

Download

黑料网 (HMA) has partnered with the National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors (NASMHPD) Technical Assistance Coalition to produce a series of briefs that characterize the opportunities to improve coordination of services for children.

In this brief, 鈥Improving Outcomes for Children in Crisis with Evidence-Based Tools,鈥 the HMA team of experts which include Rachel Bembas, Lauren Niles, Caitlin Thomas-Henkel and Uma Ahluwalia, outline limitations of current pediatric quality measures and several approaches to measure and track goals and objectives while offering a call to action at both the state and local levels. The brief calls on federal, state, and local entities, payers, provider organizations, and community-based organizations to collectively take steps to bolster and improve existing standardized monitoring, evaluation, and quality measurement efforts for youth mental health.

Brief & Report

Early Childhood Mental Health: the Importance of Caregiver Support in Promoting Healthy Child Development and Clinical Interventions for Children

Download

黑料网 (HMA) has partnered with the National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors (NASMHPD) Technical Assistance Coalition to produce a series of briefs that characterize the opportunities to improve coordination of services for children.

The significance of caregiver support for healthy early childhood outcomes is highlighted in this brief 鈥Early Childhood Mental Health: The Importance of Caregiver Support in Promoting Healthy Child Development and Clinical Interventions for Children written by HMA experts Christina Altmayer, Caitlin Thomas-Henkel and Uma Ahluwalia. This brief explores the role of Medicaid in advancing early childhood child mental health outcomes, the importance of caregiver support in promoting healthy child development, and innovative practices aimed at increasing access to supports.

Brief & Report

Connecting Schools to the Larger Youth Behavioral Health System: Early Innovations from California

Download

黑料网 (HMA) has partnered with the National Association of State Mental Health Program Directors (NASMHPD) Technical Assistance Coalition to produce a series of briefs that characterize the opportunities to improve coordination of services for children.

Connecting Schools to the Larger Youth Behavioral Health System: Early Innovations from California focuses on the role schools can play in ensuring that children and youth get the behavioral healthcare they need.聽 Written by HMA experts, Michael Butler, Ilia Rolon, Caitlin Thomas-Henkel and Uma Ahluwalia, this brief outlines California鈥檚 innovative approach to expanding access while describing the lessons learned and potential implications for other states.

Brief & Report

HMA develops brief exploring equity and innovation in children’s behavioral health systems

Download

Lifting Voices is an initiative developed to inform the transformation of the youth behavioral health care system. The project leaders are parents of children who nearly died on multiple occasions from severe behavioral health conditions, and they are professionals with a deep understanding of the opportunities and challenges faced by behavioral health care policy makers and reformers. They share the belief that their knowledge, desperation, and resources afforded their children access to interventions that should be accessible to every youth who needs them. Their experience of the care delivery system has also inspired their commitment to highlight the urgent improvements necessary to support struggling children and parents affected by the nation鈥檚 youth behavioral health crisis.

To learn more about Lifting Voices, see the October 2023 report here.

HMA Principals and behavioral health policy and practice transformation consultants Heidi Arthur, LMSW and Ellen Breslin, MPP partnered with Sheilah Gauch, LISW, M.Ed., Principal and Clinical Director with the Dearborn Academy and Echo Lustig, B.A., young adult behavioral health advocate, to share findings from the first phase of the three-part Lifting Voices initiative at Putting Care at the Center, the annual conference of the Camden Coalition鈥檚聽National Center for Complex Health and Social Needs Initiative. See: Putting Care at the Center 2023, Elevating behavioral health in whole-person care. Boston, MA, November 1-3, 2023. Please look for us at the Beehive poster station on:

  1. Thursday, November 2 from 2:45 pm – 4:30 pm ET
  2. Friday, November 3 from 8:45 am – 10:30 am ET
Brief & Report

HMA publishes white paper, 鈥淚mplementing the National Diabetes Prevention Program Lifestyle Change Program in Correctional Settings鈥

Download

Correctional facilities can decrease the number of individuals with prediabetes who progress to type 2 diabetes by offering the National Diabetes Prevention Program (National DPP) lifestyle change program. HMA has published a white paper describing (1) the financial and individual impact of type 2 diabetes, (2) the prevalence of type 2 diabetes risk factors in correctional settings, and (3) how the National DPP lifestyle change program, which was created by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), can be used to achieve cost savings and better health for people at risk of developing type 2 diabetes in correctional settings.

This white paper also features a program spotlight from the Wisconsin Department of Corrections (DOC), where the National DPP lifestyle change program has successfully been implemented in three state correctional facilities. Wisconsin’s DOC is currently the only correctional system in the United States providing this program that has been awarded full-recognition status as a supplier of the National DPP lifestyle change program by CDC. A total of 131 individuals have participated in the program, and people who completed the program in 2018-2019 lost an average of 8.3 percent of their body weight.

Administrators of correctional settings, where the length of stay is a year or longer, might consider implementing the National DPP lifestyle change program in their facilities. A cogent argument can be made that type 2 diabetes prevention provides a good return on investment in downstream costs. Offering the program would also be an important step in promoting health equity within correctional settings.

For help starting the National DPP lifestyle change program in a correctional facility, contact the white paper鈥檚 authors below.                 

Brief & Report

HMA publishes white paper 鈥淩estoring Capitation鈥檚 Incentives to Advance State Goals Post-Public Health Emergency (PHE)鈥

Download

HMA has published a white paper examining the use of risk mitigation strategies among state Medicaid programs and assessing their limiting impact on capitation鈥檚 incentives for managed care organizations (MCOs). This paper seeks to assist policymakers in designing future Medicaid program payment policies that advance state financial and programmatic goals. This paper offers a timely examination of this topic as state Medicaid programs emerge from the COVID-19 public health emergency (PHE) and navigate the unwinding of Medicaid continuous coverage. This paper also builds upon the 黑料网 May 2021 white paper, Moving Beyond COVID-19 Public Health Emergency Risk Corridors, which more narrowly focused on appropriate and inappropriate use of risk corridors.