The State of Managed Care

In a report from the Kaiser Family Foundation, the found that in 47 out of 50 states, the Medicaid programs are run by Managed Care, and in 2010, there were 54 million who were covered by the program.  Thirty-six of those programs were run by contracted managed care providers.  However, many of those eligible have problems accessing the care available, especially dental, mental health and pediatric services.

Even with those setbacks, the benefits of the system are huge.  The Managed Care System results in:

• -Improved Accountability
• -Restructured delivery system
• -Ensured access to those eligable
• -Better ability to measure quality

The main concern arises when 14 million extra patients are eligible for managed care under the Affordable Care Act.  How can states and plans work together to increase access to care?