Medicaid programs increasingly recognize the value of partnering with individuals who have Medicaid-lived experience to inform program and policy design and implementation efforts. Given final Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) rules for states to establish new types of member advisory groups — referred to as Medicaid Advisory Committees and Beneficiary Advisory Councils — Medicaid agencies have an imperative to establish or bolster member engagement mechanisms.
To support states in designing and implementing CMS’ new requirements for member advisory groups, the Center for Health Care Strategies (CHCS) is leading the Building State Capacity for Community-Informed Policymaking Learning and Action Series. CHCS is working with seven states — Alaska, Arizona, Michigan, Maine, North Dakota, Oregon, and Virginia — to establish or strengthen a Beneficiary Advisory Council (BAC) aligned with CMS’ vision for centering Medicaid lived experience in Medicaid program and policy decision-making processes.
Through the 14-month initiative, CHCS is providing technical assistance and expert support to help these seven participating states:
- Build their understanding of member engagement and advisory group promising practices;
- Partner with a community entity and Medicaid members to develop a BAC design and implementation action plan;
- Facilitate internal culture change to increase organizational commitment and capacity related to the Medicaid member engagement; and
- Build internal staff capacity to ensure BAC input is translated into program and policy design.
Participating Medicaid agencies are learning from their peers and national experts on promising practices to engage with Medicaid members, including through BACs. CHCS’ technical assistance is helping participants to: (1) inventory existing member engagement strategies and activities; (2) formalize a partnership with a community entity; (3) develop a BAC action plan; and (4) implement the BAC. Over the 14-month initiative, CHCS will create and disseminate resources publicly to spread best practices and inform additional state efforts to effectively engage Medicaid members.
