How CMS Used Policy Reform to Strengthen Medicaid Performance Following the ACA’s Passage
<p>The Affordable Care Act (ACA) led to the biggest surge in Medicaid enrollment in a generation. It also kicked off a set of federal initiatives between 2011 and 2016 to help meet the needs of new beneficiaries, including low-wage workers and adults with serious physical and mental health conditions.</p><p>A new <em>To the Point</em> post by George Washington University’s Sara Rosenbaum and colleagues looks at how the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) pushed these provider payment and care delivery reforms forward. Some originated in the agency’s long-standing oversight and demonstration authority. Others were made possible by the ACA, including new demonstration authority vested in the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation, and the Children’s Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2009.</p>
<p>These strategies, the authors write, “underscore the incredible scope of CMS activity in the wake of the ACA.” They suggest that CMS conduct evaluations to see which initiatives — policy guidance, technical support, state convening, or direct investment — worked best. </p>