On Tuesday, November 15, the Joint Medicaid Oversight Committee (JMOC) heard from its contracted actuary Optumas about the target growth rate for Ohio’s Medicaid program. For a refresher on what that entails, take a look at this blog from a couple of years ago. The major areas driving cost in the program come from the...
Author: Loren Anthes
October 29, 2018
18 Questions for the 2018 Election: Medicaid
John Kasich’s administration has been marked by some of the most significant and impactful policy changes in Ohio’s Medicaid program during its history. Before the governor took office, there was no Medicaid expansion, Medicaid was under the purview of the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services and the beginnings of the opioid crisis were...
September 20, 2018
Payment, access two focal points of Joint Medicaid Oversight Committee
The Joint Medicaid Oversight Committee (JMOC) convened on September 20 to once again discuss the Behavioral Health Redesign. JMOC saw Ohio Department of Medicaid (ODM) Director Barbara Sears testify alongside ODM staff and representatives from the Ohio Association of County Behavioral Health Authorities (OACBHA) and the Ohio Council of Behavioral Health and Family Services Providers...
August 21, 2018
Analysis of Ohio’s report on Medicaid expansion
On Tuesday, August 21, the Ohio Department of Medicaid (ODM) released the second “assessment” of the Medicaid expansion as a follow-up to the first, General Assembly required, assessment from 2016. In this document the ODM found the following: EMPLOYMENT Employment for enrollees went up 15%, meaning 1 in 2 expansion enrollees are working The most...
July 30, 2018
If You Want to Cut Costs in Medicaid, Sharpen Your Knives: Innovation in Medicaid Pharmacy
Pharmacy is a Byzantine policy area that confounds and frustrates wonks, reporters and policymakers alike. However, it is common knowledge that the pharmacy benefit in Medicaid is, if anything, a major driver of cost. While this is well known and was most recently identified by the Joint Medicaid Oversight Committee’s (JMOC) actuary in late 2016,...
July 16, 2018
Managed Care Organizations and Medicaid Performance
I recently authored an Issue Brief on the role data plays in Ohio’s Medicaid program. In developing that piece, I tried to approach data as a tool in business infrastructure development for the government “as an insurance organization,” which, for all intents and purposes, is what Medicaid is. If the mission of this insurance organization...
March 16, 2018
March Joint Medicaid Oversight Committee focuses on CVS, Caremark Business Practices
While the agenda of the March 15th Joint Medicaid Oversight Committee (JMOC) did include the regular review of the Behavioral Health Redesign, the majority of the conversation centered on Medicaid Managed Care Organizations (MCOs) and Ohio’s pharmacy benefit. As has been reported by multiple outlets, CVS and Caremark, CVS’ Pharmacy Benefit Manager (PBM), have faced...
March 12, 2018
Public Comments to the Ohio Department of Medicaid on the Proposed Medicaid Work Requirement Waiver
Loren Anthes, Public Policy Fellow, Medicaid Policy Center INTRODUCTION Pursuant to Ohio Revised Code §5166.37, [1] the Ohio General Assembly has mandated the Ohio Department of Medicaid seek federal approval for an 1115 Demonstration Waiver imposing work requirements on individuals covered through Medicaid via the Group VIII expansion. Pursuant to law established in the Patient Protection...
February 21, 2018
Work Requirement Waiver
BACKGROUND On February 16th, the Ohio Department of Medicaid, pursuant to Ohio Revised Code section 5166.37 established in the biennial budget of 2017, posted its proposal to implement work requirements for the Medicaid expansion population. The Department is seeking the change in policy through the vehicle of an 1115 demonstration waiver. It will serve as...
November 16, 2017
Joint Medicaid Oversight Committee: Behavioral Health Redesign Beta Testing Part II
On November 16, the Joint Medicaid Oversight Committee (JMOC) met to revisit the topic of beta testing Ohio’s Behavioral Health Redesign. This time, in addition to a presentation by Medicaid Director Barbara Sears and other Kasich administration staff, JMOC heard from the Ohio Association of Health Plans (OAHP), The Ohio Council of Behavioral Health &...