Some state policymakers are interested in applying the concepts of consumer-directed care to the Medicaid program. Various models to give Medicaid beneficiaries more control of their health spending are emerging.
In a new SCI issue brief, Turning Medicaid Beneficiaries into Purchasers of Health Care: Critical Success Factors for Medicaid Consumer-Directed Health Purchasing, authors Charles Milligan, Cynthia Woodcock, and Alice Burton examine the concept of Medicaid consumer-directed health purchasing and provide critical success factors that any state should consider in developing such a program.
According to the authors, “Momentum appears to be gathering to pilot various forms of consumer-directed models in Medicaid. These reforms fundamentally would alter the role of the state, the state’s expectations of Medicaid beneficiaries, and the behavior of every participant in the system. Depending on their design, consumer-directed health purchasing programs would create new opportunities and risks for Medicaid beneficiaries.”
