Authors: Anna Spencer and Jamye Chapman, Center for Health Care Strategies

Medicaid Members’ experiences and perspectives can offer important insight, build trust between health care organizations and communities, and ultimately, make care more effective. State-level efforts in community member and family engagement have been steadily growing in recent years.  In 2024, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a rule requiring states to establish or strengthen Beneficiary Advisory Councils (BACs) and Medicaid Advisory Committees (MACs) to ensure that member experience and input are integrated into program and policy decision-making processes.

This guide serves as an at-a-glance checklist reference to assist states in designing and implementing the BACs and MACs required by CMS.