“The Trump administration released the Healthy Adult Opportunity last week, providing a historic level of flexibility for states to design a Medicaid program tailored to the unique needs of their adult beneficiaries, while holding states accountable for improving quality and ensuring access…”
“Let me be clear: Fearmongering notwithstanding, HAO does not cut Medicaid funding. This optional demonstration continues federal funding to states based on their historical spending with a reasonable growth rate…”
“The policy finally tackles structural problems in Medicaid that decades of prescriptive regulations have failed to solve and about which governors from both parties have complained. Under HAO, the administration is offering states the upfront flexibility to design a program that works for their state’s unique needs, rather than being constrained by top-down dictates from Washington.”
“Subject to comprehensive minimum requirements, states would have the ability to make certain program adjustments in real-time without further federal negotiations. That might mean addressing chronic disease through prevention or focusing on treatment for substance-use disorders. As the vice president and other governors who have lived through today’s bureaucratic logjam can attest, these opportunities to improve recipients’ health — rather than endlessly negotiating with the federal government — are unprecedented and welcomed…”
“There are two final, important points that the prophets of doom consistently fail to convey. First, this is an optional opportunity; no state is required to participate. Second, HAO is available to states for an important but limited population: working-age adults who are not eligible on the basis of a disability and for whom Medicaid coverage is optional — currently about 15 million people. The other 56 million beneficiaries will not be directly affected…” Read the full article here.
Source: No, the Trump administration is not cutting Medicaid – By Seema Verma, February 6, 2020. The Washington Post.
