If the legislature wants to make the Medicaid program more complicated, it needs to commit to outrea

[LiberalArkie]

The Health Reform Legislative Task Force is considering lots of new bells and whistles for the private option, the state's unique version of Medicaid expansion. But will the legislature be willing to provide the resources necessary for outreach, so that beneficiaries actually know what's going on and know how to navigate new programs? The state's recent track record on this front does not bode well.

The task force's consultant, the Stephen Group, released its final report this month; here are our overviews of the "in the box" and "out of the box" recommendations for changes. As we've covered, the potential changes — which would impose premiums on some beneficiaries, create a carrot-and-stick system incentivizing wellness and work training programs, and more — risk making the program more bureaucratic and imposing barriers to access to care on beneficiaries. Adding those layers of bureaucracy could be costly for the state. But whatever you might think of these policy ideas, one thing is clear: if you want to create complicated new wrinkles to the Medicaid program, you have to commit to outreach and education for beneficiaries. At least, you have to commit to outreach if you want the new policies to actually work.

The scheme envisioned by the Stephen Group could potentially be very complicated for beneficiaries. Even if it's relatively simple, it still demands that beneficiaries have a clear understanding of how the system works and how the incentives are supposed to line up. Keep in mind that many of these people have health insurance for the first time in their adult lives, and that the private option itself already adds layers of complexity beyond the traditional Medicaid program (in reporting on the private option's implementation, one of the most common themes I've heard from beneficiaries is confusion). If the legislature wants a wellness program or a work referral program to be meaningful — to actually impact behavior, as opposed to just making beneficiaries jump through hoops and piling up the administrative burden on state agencies — it has to have a robust plan for communicating with beneficiaries about their options. That means trusted outreach workers on the ground, in communities. That means education efforts, that means offering guidance along the way, that means establishing a smooth response system for questions. That means communication that is clear, consistent, ongoing, audience-appropriate, and user-friendly.

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http://www.arktimes.com/ArkansasBlog/archives/2015/10/25/if-the-legislature-wants-to-make-the-medicaid-program-more-complicated-it-needs-to-commit-to-outreach