Medicaid update: Enrollment numbers coming finally, highlighting progress

Friday’s Medicaid Council meeting focused on enrollment numbers and reviewing achievements in the program. DSS outlined challenges that have delayed reporting enrollment numbers for two years and their new system for reporting the numbers. Rather than getting enrollment reports on paper as in the past, DSS is posting the data on CT Open Data. Visitors to the site can customize their view and create a variety of visualizations including trending over time. Currently enrollment back from January 2016 to last month is available by month, eligibility category, type of assistance (includes food, cash, medical and other as well as subcategories). We are promised that other metrics we used to receive are coming soon including age, gender, race/ethnicity, and town of residence. DSS will consider how to include PCMH Plus participation in the data. The data is exportable to Excel and other formats.

DSS also solicited input on documents outlining Medicaid’s progress since the 2012 move to the care coordination-focused model and away from capitated managed care organizations. Highlights include reductions in per person costs, reductions in state costs overall despite rising enrollment, improvements in provider participation and access to care.