Arkansas Leaders to Reform Medicaid Through Bundled Payments

Arkansas officials, including Gov. Mike Beebe, have found nine areas that would be targeted for reformed Medicaid payments in its hope of moving away from the fee-for-service model to episodes of care, according to a BusinessWeek report.

While other states have either proposed or already enacted deep cuts to their respective Medicaid programs, Arkansas has received initial federal approval for proposed Medicaid changes that feature bundled payments for episodes of care. The Medicaid payments would be paid to local healthcare providers that team up to provide the episodes of care.

The nine targeted areas for the bundled payments are pregnancy and neonatal care, ADHD, type 2 diabetes, back pain, cardiovascular disease, upper respiratory infections, developmental disabilities, long-term care and prevention.

BlueCross and BlueShield of Arkansas has already agreed to provide initial funding for hiring a consulting firm to help develop the proposed Medicaid changes. While the federal government has approved the state's initial plan to move away from fee-for-service, pending changes are still subject to approval.

Related Articles on Medicaid:

New York Recovers $2.3M in Medicaid Overpayments
Medicaid May Be on Debt Reduction Committee's Chopping Block After All
More States Turning to Medicaid Managed Care Companies

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