Post by pavel on Jan 18, 2016 12:16:07 GMT -6
As lawmakers mull $69M funding hike for Medicaid, program still lacks key performance data
New Mexico lawmakers will enter the 30-day legislative session Tuesday without complete information on Medicaid — one of the largest parts of the state budget.
A joint state and federal program that provides health coverage for low-income Americans, Medicaid constitutes a third of the new money state officials are requesting during this year’s session. Yet for years, lawmakers have been unable to get up-to-date information about the population served by the program, what types of health care services they receive and the effectiveness of those services.
This session will be somewhat of an exception. The state Human Services Department in 2013 added new performance measures to the program in an effort to track health care outcomes and hold the program more accountable. But observers say there’s still a lack of data.
Staffers for the Legislative Finance Committee wrote in the department’s performance report that some measures “are difficult to track” because health care providers have up to 120 days to submit claims data that would show what services they provided to Medicaid patients.
Read more: www.santafenewmexican.com/news/legislature/as-lawmakers-mull-m-funding-hike-for-medicaid-program-still/article_f35146b1-3216-507b-99f5-97764a1dab92.html
New Mexico lawmakers will enter the 30-day legislative session Tuesday without complete information on Medicaid — one of the largest parts of the state budget.
A joint state and federal program that provides health coverage for low-income Americans, Medicaid constitutes a third of the new money state officials are requesting during this year’s session. Yet for years, lawmakers have been unable to get up-to-date information about the population served by the program, what types of health care services they receive and the effectiveness of those services.
This session will be somewhat of an exception. The state Human Services Department in 2013 added new performance measures to the program in an effort to track health care outcomes and hold the program more accountable. But observers say there’s still a lack of data.
Staffers for the Legislative Finance Committee wrote in the department’s performance report that some measures “are difficult to track” because health care providers have up to 120 days to submit claims data that would show what services they provided to Medicaid patients.
Read more: www.santafenewmexican.com/news/legislature/as-lawmakers-mull-m-funding-hike-for-medicaid-program-still/article_f35146b1-3216-507b-99f5-97764a1dab92.html