In California, like many states, fragmented systems for delivering physical and behavioral health care for Medicaid beneficiaries often lead to access barriers, care disruptions, and a lack ... more

Medicaid has come a long way from its inception over 50 years ago. From a stigma-ridden afterthought at the creation of Medicare to a true bulwark of the American health care system, it is n... more

Public Health: "Why can't Medicaid pay for our stuff, haven't they seen that it is evidence-based and will save money?" Medicaid: “Why does everyone ask us to pay for their stuff?” ... more

Medicaid directors are uniquely situated to stimulate innovations in health policy and practice to enhance care, address complex health and social needs, manage costs, and, ultimately, impro... more

In January 2019, Governor Phil Murphy of New Jersey announced new strategies to strengthen the state’s response to the opioid epidemic. The announcement included a robust, statewide office... more

After serving as a Navy corpsman during the Vietnam era, Dan Sumrok, MD, DFASAM, ABAM, ABPM, published an article in the West Virginia Medical Journal on what he perceived as a connection be... more

Knowledge regarding the impact of trauma on individual health and behavior has become more mainstream in health care over the last several years. However, the effects of trauma on groups, or... more

Medicaid directors in states across the country navigate an increasingly complex world, one in which they balance the needs of internal staff, external stakeholders, a dynamic federal pa... more

Complicated drug regimens, also known as medication complexity, can cause adverse health outcomes, leading to avoidable hospitalizations and sometimes even death – an estimated 119,000... more

Medicaid programs are increasingly interested in fostering cross-sector alignment as a means to provide quality and cost-effective health care services. At the center of these efforts are th... more

In most states, the connection between the health care and early childhood sectors is more tenuous than it should be, and the potential of these two systems working together to support e... more

In 2012, Oregon launched its coordinated care organization (CCO) program, a regional Medicaid managed care program closely tied to local providers and communities. Through a global budget ap... more

During my time working in the Vermont state government — close to two decades — integrating services for children, youth, and families was a key focus for creating a system that is suppo... more

In 2018, over 3,000 New Jersey residents are believed to have died from drug overdose, and suicides among 10- to 18-year-olds in the state have increased by nearly 50 percent over the past d... more

Health care disparities persist across the United States, despite growing awareness of the issue. Black mothers are two to three times more likely to die of common pregnancy complications th... more

Increasingly, health systems, providers, and payers recognize the significant influence that social factors such as housing, food insecurity, employment status, and transportation have on we... more

The movement to adopt value-based payment (VBP) in the U.S. health care system tends to focus on getting providers to assume financial risk. Recently, for example, the Centers for Medicare &... more

Since Louisiana expanded Medicaid in 2016, an additional 502,647 newly eligible adults enrolled in the state’s health care program for low-income residents. In Louisiana, a state that has ... more

People eligible for both Medicare and Medicaid experience co-occurring substance use disorders and chronic pain at rates as much as six times higher than Medicare-only beneficiaries or Medi... more

Across every state, from Maine to California, an estimated 18 million individuals provide vital care to older family members who need in-home assistance, yet there are few systematic support... more